The women's restroom at Donn's Depot, a bar on West Lynn and Fifth streets in Austin, has red and white striped walls, a crimson carpet that extends over wooden chairs, and graffiti covering much of the space. Matt Seaton, a visitor, said he had heard many stories about the room but had never been inside.
The bar started as a train depot on the MoPac rail line in McNeil, about 20 miles north. Civil engineer Bob Ogden bought the condemned building for $300 in the 1970s and reportedly paid $2,000 to move it to its current site, according to ATXplained. Matt Adelman, the bar's manager and son of the namesake, said a later addition used old train cars. One of them, a caboose, became the women's room.
Longtime employee Lisa Gargas called the room "living, functional, historical art." Adelman said a pole in the caboose, once used by train crews to reach a viewing deck, became known as a stripper pole through jokes and legends. He also said the room is often used as a lounge, where women gather and socialize when the bar is crowded.