Out west in Callahan

Submitted by Evelyn C. McDonald
Arts & Culture Reporter
January 22, 2016 8:45 a.m.

It’s all too easy to become a culture snob or should I perhaps say a geographic snob. I encourage you to shake that notion. It was shaken for me when I needed to have a stained glass lampshade repaired and found a master craftsman with a studio just south of Callahan. Whenever I start to look askance at anything, I remember a story he told me. He was talking to a prospective client about a stained glass piece. He mentioned American glass and got an interesting response. The man drew himself up and said, “Oh, I never buy American glass. I’m only interested in Tiffany.”

With that in mind, I’m going to encourage you to brave the troll under the Shave Bridge and go out to Callahan. Specifically to go west in Nassau County to go back in history at the Railroad Museum in the old Callahan train depot. The depot, at 45383 Dixie Avenue in Callahan, dates from 1881 and is on what used to be the old Seaboard Air Line Railway system on the 1856 Florida railroad bed. It’s a small place with all sorts of railroad memorabilia.

The museum collection holds photos from early times in Callahan and Hilliard, railroad lanterns, station agent phones, advertisements featuring trains and train companies, model trains and some small train layouts. Railroad Days, on April 16 this year, is an annual depot festival with games, a parade, arts and crafts vendors, and exhibitors who build and run model trains in larger sizes.

The museum is open every day and admission is free, although the sign says, “Donations are nice.” The West Nassau Historical Society has worked very hard to keep the museum going and make the necessary improvements to the building. They are also working to catalogue and archive the collection.

This Saturday the museum will host the 2016 Callahan Depot Art Show. This is the fourth year for the Depot’s juried art show. Artists throughout the county are represented. The show is open from 10 am to 2:30 pm, with an hour off at 12:30 pm for judging. This year there are 10 artists displaying 29 pieces of art from paintings to photography to 3-D art. There are also school groups participating. Works awarded first prize in each category will be displayed in several locations in the county.

The West Nassau Historical Society’s website is www.wnhsfl.org. The train depot is not hard to find. Go to the traffic light in Callahan and turn right. Go to the next traffic light and turn left. The Depot will be on your left. It’s worth braving the troll.

Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ’s Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.