Kent's first depot was a boxcar; the second was a small frame building. When citizens requested a more substantial structure, the railroad's generosity was limited to about 60 percent of the cost. The balance was pledged by the community in a single meeting. Standing above a dam and mill race of the Cuyahoga River, the perfectly symmetrical, red brick depot was built in a Tuscan Revival style with a slate roof. One story segments hyphenated the depot's trio of two-story towers. Stone-arched windows on the upper floor were grouped in threes above a platform canopy dripping with pendants. The first floor housed the ticket and telegraph office, men's and ladies' waiting rooms, and baggage and express rooms. Big double doors on the track side led to an elegant restaurant, whose manager lived upstairs. The second floor also provided bunk space and a "Reading Room" for railroad workers. Just to the south was a wooden freight house; beyond that were rail yards with shops for building and repairing coaches and freight cars. Excerpted from: Great American Railroad Stations by Janet Greenstein Potter, Wiley Press