07/05/2026
Keith Halcomb, a member and volunteer of the Barrow County Historical Society, and his dad attended Train Day in Winder on the Saturday of Father's Day weekend as part of their father-son celebration.
Halcomb, a University of Georgia graduate who obtained a Master of Historic Preservation in 2024, included the historic Winder Depot in his thesis, "Through the Heart of Preservation: Adaptive Use of Railroad Depots for Community Benefit from Elberton to West Point, Georgia."
During work on his thesis, he interviewed Jim Baughman, who retired from CSX and is actively involved with the Barrow County Historical Society as a trustee. Baughman, who also volunteers his conductor role to special events, is affectionately called the area's "Train Man." Halcomb also worked with LeAnne Akin, Historical Society president and a longtime journalist.
Halcomb, who is also a railroad enthusiast and researcher who sees his career future as a historian, archivist or historic preservationist, gained experience in records management, cataloguing collections and organization. He provides those skills as a museum volunteer.
While conducting his field visits and research on his thesis topic, he located a 1927 vintage postcard of the Winder Depot, purchased and donated it to the Barrow County Museum in the spring of 2024 after the successful defense of his thesis. An image of the postcard was featured in the program of that spring’s historical society membership dinner meeting, with these remarks:
“This 1927 postcard of the Seaboard Air Lines (S.A.L.) Depot in Winder was donated to the Barrow County Museum by Keith Halcomb, a University of Georgia graduate student whose thesis was approved April 15, 2024. He was assisted in his research by the museum and its volunteers. Congratulations to Keith, who writes, ‘I want to do this for the people of Winder and Barrow County so everyone can learn and appreciate Winder’s railroad past.’”
Halcomb attended Train Day in June 2024 which came after his graduation and he thanked Baughman, Akin and the historical society for assistance on his thesis.
The postcard from Halcomb is included in a shadowbox display at the museum with railroad memorabilia donated by community members and on loan from Jim Baughman. The portrait of John H. Winder (for whom Jug Tavern was renamed to Winder in 1893) is nearby. It was Mr. Winder, who worked for the railroad and determined the route for the tracks to be run through the area to connect Atlanta with Athens.
Images of this postcard as well as other of the historic depot (donated by Joe Bowen) and other scenes will soon be added to this post.
