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SYNOPSIS
This is a story of the early years of Coffee County and Enterprise, AL. The bulk of the story takes place in the early 1900s, but is told in flashback with the first scene initiating in the year 1964. From there the story flashes back to 1906 and unfolds chronologically, using the “gapping” method, culminating in the year 1919.


It is a story of the interpersonal and real life struggles that were faced as this region of the south experienced an agricultural shift from the primary crop of cotton to more diverse crops, and specifically to the peanut crop in the Wiregrass region.


The two primary sets are the Train Depot of Enterprise, AL and the Rawls Hotel Restaurant located directly across from the train depot. These are structures that still exist and are listed on the National Register of Historic places. All characters represented by actors and their respective stories are fictitious, with the exception of John Pittman who was the actual Coffee County Agricultural Extension Agent in the early 1900s, and Ben Byrd who was the President of the Enterprise Banking Company.


Special appreciation is given to the following for their help regarding historical research: Don Pittman, Margaret Wingate, The Depot Museum, The Pea River Historical and Genealogical Society, the late Roy Shoffner for his diligent historical research penned in “Enterprise: The First 110 Years”.


All historical facts referenced in the story were researched and are, as much as is possible, accurate, with artistic license taken in the depiction of historical figures.

 

WRITTEN BY      Lydia Dillingham

The Depot

Directed BY Alan Moore

Prologue:
This is a story of the early years of Enterprise, AL and the life of Ruth Adams Baker.
The Enterprise community started in 1881 when John Henry Carmichael built a store on what is now North Main Street. Within a year a Post Office was established on Main. In 1896 Enterprise was incorporated, having a population of approximately 250. A year later a Federal land office opened and sold over 3,500 acres of land, rapidly increasing the growth of city.
In 1898 the Alabama Midland Railway Company came to Enterprise with its first passenger train arriving on February 14th, Valentine’s Day.  After the construction of the Train Depot in 1903, Captain Japheth Rawls, a prominent businessman of Enterprise decided it was time to open a two story hotel and restaurant across from the Depot for travelers and salesmen coming through the area.
We enter our story in the year 1964. Ruth Adams Baker is dining at the Rawls with her eighteen year old granddaughter Evie.

The Depot was produced as a large stage play and was not a dinner theater presentation.

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