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The Depot, a building on the National Historic Register, was home to the Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Museum. Although a few items have been salvaged, the museum appears to be a total loss, according to Pulaski officials. The fire is under investigation by the Pulaski Fire Marshal’s Office.

Pulaski Mayor Jeff Worrell said this afternoon that the fire represented, “a devastating loss for our community. Losing the building is bad enough—it was on the National Register of Historic Places—buildings can be rebuilt and replaced. The loss of he contents of the museum is what’s truly heartbreaking. Those items are, of course, irreplaceable. There were some items salvaged, but with heavy smoke and water damage.
 
Worrell said that he did not know the immediate future of the Depot but he said that Pulaski’s council and administration would be addressing this issue in the coming days.
 
“It is really sad news,” said Pulaski Town Council member Morgan Welker. “The artifacts lost are irreplaceable. The station was one of our most important and recognizable landmarks. I'm really at a loss for words right now.”

Welker expressed hope that some of the items inside the Depot were saved and said that he was “grateful that so many of the old photographs there had recently been scanned and copied.”

Peggy White, executive director for the Pulaski Chamber of Commerce said that losing the train station and seeing the damage was like losing a part of the past.

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“The train station represented a part of our past but was a piece of our culture,” White said. “It is devastating to the community.”

Town Manager John Hawley echoed those sentiments. “We were a railroad town and that was the center of our community,” Hawley said, adding that so much of the community had an investment in the building and the history it represented.

Hawley said that a meeting would take place tomorrow with an architect and city officials at the site to try to gauge what the next steps might be for the Depot.

Photo: (Top left and right) Some of the items which were salvaged from Monday's early morning fire at the histroric Pulaski Train Depot lay outside in the parking lot. (Photo by David Grimes)

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