Railroad Ruin in Sherman

This ruin along Cherry Street in Sherman just begged to be researched. I obliged!

After I took the old King of Trails Highway (now, US 75) from the Red River to Sherman, I nosed around downtown for a while. I've been there plenty of times, but somehow, I always end up in the southeastern portion of downtown, probably because of all of the industrial remnants (and present occupants) there.

Along Cherry Street in downtown Sherman, I spotted an interesting ruin just behind the old St. Louis & Southwestern railroad depot (Cotton Belt) from 1888. I decided to check it on the Sherman's 1922 Sanborn map to figure out what this structure once was.

It seems to have been a portion of the former Cotton Belt freight depot (actually, the platform part). Inside its overgrown footprint can be seen further structural remains of either the old depot or perhaps another building that occupied the site once the freight depot became disused.

Then, I noticed that the Sanborn Map had two other interesting places: a turntable for trains, and the Washington Iron Works. The turntable is now a parking lot but still has the same shape... and the Washington Iron Works, opened since 1876, is still going strong.

The Sanborn Map of Sherman shows the turn table and railroad infrastructure at Cherry Street. Note the Washington Iron Works is already there in 1922! (Perry Castaneda)

Where the turntable once was is now a parking lot.

Photo is by Terry Lantrip, who writes: "In the aerial you can see an “L” shaped building in the lower left. The thin part that is a bit angled may be the original freight depot that was moved from the area where the trees are a couple of hundred feet to the east. In this photo the original freight depot starts where the pipe is sticking up and beyond."