By Eric Berger

HAMILTON, Ohio — As hundreds of onlookers lined the street — many for the second time in less than a month — a 100-foot-long portion of the historic Hamilton, Ohio, passenger station was rolled about 1,100 feet along Martin Luther King Boulevard this month to rejoin the rest of the station that was moved last month. There it’s hoped that both pieces will earn a new lease on life.

The local effort to save the buildings began in 2020 after CSX announced it wanted to either demolish them or donate them to the city, so long as they were moved. After a few years of work, the city finally started the moving process in December.

With the move completed, the next step for city officials is finding tenants to lease the buildings. The one-story structure that was moved on January 17, is the original depot built by Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton in the 1850s, while the larger two-story section moved on December 20, was built near the end of the 19th Century. Several presidents are believed to have made whistle stops at the station, including both Roosevelts. This CH&D was absorbed by B&O in 1917. The station was an Amtrak stop on The Cardinal route, from 1980 to 2005.