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During the war, the Auburn depot was a bustling hub of activity and integral to Confederate war efforts. In 1864, a series of attacks by Union forces, led by Major General Lovell Harrison Rousseau and the “Rousseau’s Raiders” ravaged the Depot’s tracks. Acting as one the most destructive cavalry raids of the Civil War, transportation of military supplies were disrupted through Montgomery and Lee County. 

A few years after the war ended, the second depot was rebuilt in 1870 with the rise of the golden railroad era.  In 1896, the infamous “Wreck Tech Pajama Parade” was born as University students greased the railroad tracks when Georgia Tech came to compete for Auburn’s first home game. Skidding down the tracks, the train missed the Auburn Depot by almost a mile forcing the weary athletes to walk back into town. Becoming one of Auburn University’s oldest traditions, the Wreck Tech Pajama Parade was born.

With a prominent role in the history of Auburn, the time-worn tracks have seen the face of war and abandonment, but it has also seen the joyous reunion of families. Now, over 150 years later, the Depot has once again been reincarnated revitalizing the city of Auburn.

Restoring the original building including the black and white floor tiles and the 200 year­old heartwood pine train platforms, the historic architecture lives on today. Transforming the knotted pine into the Chef’s table, bar and hostess stand, the original elements of the Depot from the mid-1800’s to the early 1900’s have been all repurposed.