Termite free at last

Brooksville's historic train depot is finally rid of its unwanted guests.

After years of termites feeding on the floors, doors and walls of the train depot, the 125-year-old building is termite free but is in need of donations to help pay back a $3,000 loan that went toward repairing damages and fumigation.

Ron Daniel, president of the Hernando Historical Museum Association, who has been volunteering at the depot for more than 10 years, said he first noticed signs of termites in 2005 and over the years, the problem grew increasingly worse.

"Like everything else we just kept putting it off and we had limited funds," Daniel said. "We had to do something."

Curator Dennis Rhodes said the infestation got so bad that it wasn't uncommon to see termites crawling on a windowsill or scurrying across the floor.

"Sometimes we would have board meetings in here and all of these termites would be flying around," Rhodes said.

Daniel said he hopes to pay off the loan as soon as possible in order to put more funds towards future projects.

"We couldn't just let it go," he said. "This building is really important to us because of its history, and we want more people to come down here and learn the history of it."

Built in 1885 on the corner of Brooksville Avenue and Russell Street, the train depot served as a way for travelers and freights to travel from the East coast of Florida to the ports of the Gulf of Mexico.

Rhodes said the train depot was the center of Brooksville, helping citrus fields and the mining business prosper.

"This is what put Brooksville on the map," he said. "None of that would've happened without the railroad."

More than 6,000 photos can be seen at the depot, along with a 1925 fire engine, model train displays and farming, carpentry and ranching equipment from the pre civil war era.

The depot also houses a genealogy resource center containing county records such as marriage licenses and birth and death certificates dating back to 1850.

"This is a unique place for preserving the history of Hernando County," Rhodes said.

The train depot is open Tuesday through Friday from noon to 3 p.m.

To make donations to the train depot, call 352-799-0129 or visit 70 Russell St.