Re: RGS Depot changes ownership

Unfortunately, the town hall and part of its parking lot is in the way. FWIW, the rest of the freight structure still existed in late 1968, it was used as the train station in the original movie version of True Grit. The studio added a bay window and a Ft. Smith sign. There is a short scene where John Wayne is walking out of the courthouse (which was just a shell built by the film company) and you can see the park with the gallows, the freight building, and beyond it the depot, in its current location, painted white with a red roof. I'm assuming the freight building was torn down shortly after the filming, because it was apparently dragged south of its original location for the filming, in the movie it's directly across what is now Railroad Street from the current depot location. This later became a tennis court and this summer was converted to a large (for Ridgway) parking lot. Several of our downtown streets have now been paved, for better or worse.