History Of The Museum :

The Casey Jones Railroad Museum State Park was designated a State Park on April 27, 1980. In attendance at the "Grand Opening" were dignitaries such as then Governor William Winter and future Governor who was then the Attorney General, William "Bill" Allain.

The Museum began as a project of Massena Jones in a building he owned across the road from the present site. In the late 1970s, State Parks became involved with the project and moved the Depot from Pickens to it's present location in Vaughan where it houses our Museum. The original Vaughan Depot had been destroyed.

At one time, the Museum employed a Manager and a clerk. The manager position has been eliminated and it now falls under the Management of Holmes County State Park. The clerk position still remains. Hettie Moore of Vaughan has been with the Museum since it opened. If you go in today, she will be there to great you with her ready smile and charming wit.

When the little post office at Vaughan was no longer suitable, the Museum took over the service. For a period of time, the Vaughan Post Office was located inside the museum and operated by park employees. The Postal service has since been reduced to a couple of mail drop boxes in our parking lot but the mail boxes still remain on display.

Perhaps the centerpiece of our Museum collection is the bell from the 382 which was salvaged from the wreck site. The bell suffered extensive damage to one side but otherwise is mostly intact. The bell is accompanied by a hand written voucher of authenticity from Massena Jones.

Additional pieces in our collection include prints of many of the photos you see on the web site, a "Sherman's neck tie", a collection of Hobo markings, a model of a train village at the turn of the century and various other railroad artifacts. A recent addition is 1902 - 1905 ICRR train schedules donated by W. E. "Red" Oakes of Cleveland. These schedules will be on display for the first time the week of the anniversary.