The open house at the Vigo County Historical Museum today, designated "Train Sunday," warrants consideration of Terre Haute's early railroad depots.

The museum's exhibits justifiably focus on Union Depot, located at Ninth and Spruce streets between 1893 and 1960, the crown jewel of the city's railroad terminals.

However, during the many years Terre Haute was a rail hub, it boasted at least eight other passenger or freight depots.

The first Terre Haute depot was built by Chauncey Rose and the Terre Haute & Richmond Railroad on the north side of Wabash Avenue at 10th Street, east of the railroad tracks. It was prepared to serve patrons by early December 1851. The first train transporting passengers to Indianapolis departed on Feb. 14, 1852. Nine years later it became strictly a freight depot.

The city's second depot was built by William D. Griswold's Evansville & Crawfordsville Railroad on the south side of Wabash Avenue, east of the tracks, in 1854. The Evansville & Crawfordsville Railroad made its first junket to the city on Dec. 24.

The Terre Haute & Alton Railroad built the first railroad bridge over the Wabash River in 1855 and was permitted to use the Terre Haute & Richmond depot as a freight depot. When the Terre Haute & Alton was ready to expand service to St. Louis the next year, it hired Griswold, a Terre Haute lawyer, as president to guide the transition.

The railroad's name was changed to "Terre Haute, Alton and St. Louis Railroad" and, subsequently, "St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute Railroad."

Displeased with the quality of the accommodations at its first depot, the Terre Haute & Richmond acquired William P. Bennett's Station House Hotel at the northwest corner of 10th and Chestnut streets in 1861, converting it into a new "Union Station."

The Evansville & Crawfordsville -- renamed the Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad in 1867 -- shared use of the depot and, for several years, the facility was used by the Terre Haute, Alton & St. Louis. "Union Station" was an apt name.

The Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad continued to utilize its original depot south of Wabash Avenue as a freight terminal.

In 1867, William Riley McKeen succeeded to the presidency of the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad, bringing with him a vision of the city's rail future. The relationship between Rose, Griswold, McKeen, Josephus Collett and William B. Tuell -- Terre Haute's leading rail barons -- was close. Each assisted the others.

Competition surfaced in 1868 when The Bellefountaine ("Bee Line") Railway founded the Indianapolis & St. Louis Railway, building tracks from Terre Haute to Indianapolis nearly parallel to McKeen's railroad.

The Pennsylvania Railroad, which utilized the Terre Haute & Indianapolis tracks, sought assistance. For a price, McKeen agreed to help The Pennsylvania build and operate the new "St. Louis, Vandalia & Terre Haute Railroad" from Terre Haute to St. Louis.

The Indianapolis & St. Louis Railway eventually entered into an agreement to use the St. Louis, Alton & Terre Haute tracks west of Terre Haute. In the 1870s, it built a passenger depot on the north side of Sixth and Tippecanoe streets and an elaborate freight depot two blocks west.

Ultimately, the Indianapolis & St. Louis and its affiliates were absorbed by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, known as "The Big Four."

In 1872, Collett's Evansville, Terre Haute & Chicago Railroad was completed to Terre Haute, connecting the city with Danville, Ill., and Union Station at 10th and Chestnut became its passenger depot. The ETH&C also laid tracks south of the city to serve the coal mines in southern Vigo and Sullivan counties.

Illinois Midland Railroad, a merger of railroads (including the Paris & Terre Haute Railroad) owned by Terre Haute resident Robert G. Hervey, also used Union Station. It emerged from receivership in 1886 as "The Terre Haute & Peoria Railroad."

In 1877, the Evansville & Terre Haute was acquired by Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad, one of six operating companies to use that name. Three years later Evansville, Terre Haute & Chicago was leased by CE&I and also became a part of its system.

Tuell, Collett and McKeen bought the floundering Terre Haute & Cincinnati Railroad from a receiver in 1877, changing its name to "Terre Haute & Southeastern Railroad." Tuell eventually bought out Collett and McKeen and added rail service to Worthington. A facility at 10 N. First St. was its passenger depot.

As the Terre Haute & Indianapolis Railroad's Vandalia Line system expanded by acquisition of the Terre Haute & Logansport Railroad, Terre Haute & Peoria Railroad and the Indiana & Lake Michigan Railroad under McKeen's guidance, Union Station at 10th and Chestnut was enlarged.

Long criticized as not being aesthetically representative of the community's rank as a rail hub or as headquarters of the mighty Vandalia Line, its location two blocks south of the east-west tracks also was inconvenient, requiring trains to backup to enter or leave.

In early 1891, McKeen engaged celebrated Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford to design a new depot at Ninth and Spruce streets that would make the city proud. The grand facility was dedicated on Aug. 15, 1893.

Three days later, the Terre Haute & Indianapolis and its affiliated railroads were sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad, which merged the properties in 1905 into a wholly-owned subsidiary called "The Vandalia Railroad Co."

The Big Four -- which became part of the New York Central in 1930 -- responded in 1899 by replacing its passenger depot at Sixth and Tippecanoe with a new passenger depot at Seventh Street on the south side of the tracks.

John R. Walsh's Southern Indiana Railway arrived in Terre Haute in 1900, utilizing Union Depot for passenger service and erecting a freight depot at 12th and Crawford streets. Southern Indiana ultimately became part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad.

The Evansville & Terre Haute built a depot at 16th and Hulman streets early in the 20th century but it was destroyed by the March 1913 tornado and not rebuilt.

Mike McCormick is the Vigo County historian. His column appears each Sunday.