A grant is helping the cause to save the Prosperity Depot.

Norfolk Southern donated the Prosperity depot to The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation in July, said Trust Executive Director and area resident Mike Bedenbaugh, adding this is the last depot in the county.

The railroad has refused to allow the depot to stay within the 100-foot wide portion of its 200 foot-wide right-of-way.

To obtain the depot, the new owners must agree to move the old building 50 feet within the next two years. That is, if the surrounding property owners agree that the depot can sit on their property, or deed the property to the depot. If not, the depot must be moved to a new home.

According to Prosperity Mayor Larry Spotts moving the building just 25 feet would cost around $18,000.

Railroad officials have agreed that the depot can sit on the current site for the next two years for a fee of $200.

With no funds to move the building, a group of residents have banned together to save the old depot.

The group got one step closer to its goal when The National Trust pledged a matching $5,000 grant to the project.

The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation applied for the grant on behalf of the group. Bedenbaugh explained that the $5,000 grant is a 50/50 matching grant and will not actually be awarded until the local Save the Prosperity Depot group raises the matching $5,000.

The National Trust earmarked this starter grant for an engineering study to determine if the Prosperity Depot can be moved and what will need to be done to stabilize the building for the move.

“This engineering study is the first important step to saving the last remnant of our railroad history in Newberry County,“ said organizer Andy Hawkins.

The Save the Prosperity Depot group, which is a sub-committee of the Newberry County Historical and Museum Society, needs help in saving the last remaining train depot in Newberry County on its original site.

To donate, visit the project’s Web page at www.palmettotrust.org and give.

A 10 percent tithe will be given to Palmetto Trust to protect this building in perpetuity, or go by Prosperity Drug Co., see Joe Welborn’s stained glass rendition of the depot and pick up a donation envelope.

For more information about this historic project and how you can be involved, call (803) 364-3392.