Company town. On the afternoon of October 5, 2019, the Amtrak Train 58 (City Of New Orleans) makes the stop at Hazelhurst, MS and its 1925 Illinois Central Railroad depot with Webb Rail’s Budd built dome/coach 549 (WEBX 801045, former Northern Pacific Railway) and Budd built Pullman obs/diner/sleeper “Babbling Brook” (WEBX 800007, former New York Central Railroad) holding the markers. The building is currently home to the Hazlehurst Depot Museum and the Hazlehurst Chamber of Commerce. Next to the station, a plaque marks the date of March 31, 1858, when the final spike of the New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern railroad was driven. The railroad (which would subsequently become the Illinois Central) was built under the supervision of General Superintendant and Chief Engineer George H. Hazlehurst. He would also layout the design for this town, which would bear his name.
