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PORT HOPE, Mich. — A new barn quilt honors the 1904 Port Hope Train Depot and the people who saved and restored it.
Named “All Aboard!”, the quilt is mounted on the west wall of the Port Hope Area Historical Society’s Lumberyard Museum at 8016 Portland Ave. As part of the Thumb Quilt Trail, the display is free to view year-round.
The society’s Barn Quilt Project committee created the quilt, which was unveiled at the annual year-end gathering for depot volunteers, according to a society news release.
Those honored include Dean Smith, a descendant of village founder William Stafford. Smith owned and maintained the depot after local railroad service ended in the early 1970s, then donated it to the nonprofit Friends of the Port Hope Depot. The group worked with Huron County officials to move the building onto property in Stafford County Park.
The quilt also recognizes the restoration volunteers known as the “Depot Boyz and Girlz,” along with volunteer Don Finkel and the memory of his grandson, Ryder, who died of cancer. Finkel helped restore the depot and its adjoining 1904 caboose and shared his love of trains with Ryder.
Richard Greenway, president of the Friends group, recalled the restoration proposal about 15 years earlier.
“It was never about the building. It was about the community,” Greenway told the gathering, according to the release.
Built in 1904, months after the rail line was extended from Harbor Beach, the depot stood at the end of a Pere Marquette Railroad spur. Its design matched the railroad’s other depots across the Great Lakes region.
The Depot and Lumberyard museums are closed for the season. You can arrange private offseason group tours by emailing PortHopeAHS@gmail.com. More information is available at HistoricPortHope.org.
