Historic District
Zachary Train Depot
The oldest building on Main Street is the Zachary Railroad Depot, built in 1894. The Louisville, New Orleans and Texas Railroad laid 456 miles of track from New Orleans to Memphis, and the first passenger train schedule was put into effect on October 6, 1884. Darel Zachary owned much of the land where the City of Zachary now lies. He sold a strip of land 50 feet wide by 650 feet long, to the LNO&T Railroad for the sum of ONE DOLLAR and the promise from the Railroad Company that they would build a depot there. The railroad became the focal point of the town, and the corporate limits were measured as a “starting point beginning at the railroad crossing.” After the Zachary railroad was completed and the depot was built, stores and businesses sprung up everywhere. “Drummers” would ride the trains to Zachary, and rent horses and wagons to travel through the area selling their wares.
