Sebring, FL (SBG)

After visiting the area on a fishing trip to Lake Jackson, pottery manufacturer George Sebring established the community in 1912. Its layout was supposedly taken from that of Heliopolis in Egypt.

601 East Center Avenue
Sebring, FL 33870-3513

Annual Ticket Revenue (FY 2023): $839,923
Annual Station Ridership (FY 2023): 12,858

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Routes Served
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Facility Ownership: Amtrak
Parking Lot Ownership: CSX Transportation
Platform Ownership: CSX Transportation
Track Ownership: CSX Transportation

Todd Stennis
Regional Contact
governmentaffairsnol@amtrak.com
For information about Amtrak fares and schedules, please visit Amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

City of Sebring

Opened in 1924, the Mediterranean Revival style passenger depot was built as part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway’s (SAL) expansion into central Florida along what it dubbed the “Orange Blossom Line.” The new rail line offered direct access to the Northeast, thereby bolstering tourism efforts aimed at promoting the area’s year-round mild climate. Nearby, the SAL also erected a freight building.

The depot’s Mediterranean Revival style architecture features stuccoed walls, a red barrel tile roof, round arch doorways and windows, stepped parapet and decorative terracotta including a shield above one of the doorways. Track side, a projecting bay allowed the station master to monitor traffic along the line. The depot was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

In 1998, a city-led, $800,000 rehabilitation project was largely completed using monies granted to the Florida Department of Transportation under the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991. An historic preservation grant from the Florida Department of State and funds from Amtrak were used to stabilize the structure prior to the rehabilitation. The station was rededicated during a ceremony on April 24, 1998.

The Atlantic Coast Line railroad (ACL) came to Sebring in June of 1912 on the branch reaching southward from Haines City. The coming of the railroad opened this otherwise virgin territory to development in lumber, mining, citrus and tourism. The railroad also provided the main route in for new residents, as an unpaved sand trail was the only other means of access at first.

By 1917, the original wooden ACL station was replaced by a larger combined passenger and freight station built in stucco covered brick. The ACL station saw its last passengers in 1955. When the ACL and SAL merged in 1967, the older ACL depot became redundant; it was torn down in 2000.

Sebring was founded in 1912 and named after its founder, George Sebring, a pottery manufacturer from Ohio, who developed the city after visiting on a fishing trip to Lake Jackson and purchasing the property in 1911. Sebring was chartered soon after, in 1913, by the Florida legislature. The city is known as the “City on the Circle” because George Sebring laid out the plan to have the spokes of the roads emanate from a central hub, supposedly taken from the design of Heliopolis in Egypt. Downtown Sebring has been designated a 1920s Historic District, and over $16 million invested in restoration for that park-like central circle.

Sebring is perhaps best known for being the home of the Sebring International Raceway, which was created on a former airbase and first used in 1950. The raceway is currently the host of the 12 Hours of Sebring, an annual American Le Mans series race. Recently, Sebring became the winter home of Indy Car Racing, with one of the most active test facilities in North America.