Located in a restored railroad depot more than 120 years old, the Center offers travel literature which includes state and regional materials, maps of the city and surrounding area, a self-guided tour of Palestine and information on events and accommodations. Informational brochures and personal assistance for tourists are available during business hours. Tours and convention group assistants are available upon advanced request.
This Depot was originally located in Neches, Texas (about 10 miles northeast), built in about 1906. It served a long and useful life as the point of departure and arrival for thousands of East Texans, brought their supplies, necessities and luxuries to them. It then wound up in a farmer's field as a hay barn. It originally served the International and Great Northern Ry, subsequently to become the Missouri-Pacific.
A group of Palestine folks, called the Diamond Stack Preservation Society, with an interest in local history and particularly in railroading, bought the dilapidated old building, and while pondering its ultimate fate, moved it to the Anderson County fairgrounds. There it lanquished for many months, becoming a haven for several swarms of bees. Finally, in 1980, through the cooperation of the Texas Highway Department, county and local law officials, the depot began its precarious move from the fairgrounds to its present (and hopefully last) site. During the move, folks lined the streets to observe this ancient structure ponderously negotiating corners and hills; offering advice, and even forming "the depot watcher's society".
Tne Palestine Chamber of Commerce, utilizing funds from the motel-hotel occupancy tax, undertook the restoration process.