Northern States

he Amtrak station in Alexandria opened on September 15, 1905. The train station is directly adjacent to the King Street Metro station and faces the George Washington Masonic National Memorial.

Though not as grandiose as its nearby Washington, D.C. counterpart, this “other Union Station” has a unique style of its own. The station is a one-story brick building consisting of the original main passenger depot and baggage building separated by a 20-foot wide open gateway passage and covered by a covered terrace. The designer used the Federal Revival Style: a 20th century mixture of Neoclassical architecture borrowed from buildings constructed just after the American Revolution, fitting for its location. Both original buildings are still in use. Though many minor renovations have taken place, including the slightly more extensive renovations that occurred in 1982 and the mid-1990s, the original buildings remain essentially unchanged. The limestone and granite Veterans of Foreign Wars memorial was constructed at the station in 1942.

In the late 1840s, the city of Alexandria invested in five major railroad projects to better compete with Baltimore as a regional industrial and trade center, but ended up in a confusion of mergers and failures. In 1901, the railroads serving the region built Potomac Yard, a consolidated rail yard. In 1905, the city of Alexandria commissioned the Washington Southern Railway Company (later part of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac, now CSX) to build the Alexandria Union Station at a cost of $62,020.55. The station also served the Chesapeake & Ohio and Southern Railway trains.

Great American Stations

fter the Civil War, the first depot on the present site was a long frame building constructed in the 1880s following the typical depot designs of the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company, which purchased controlling interest in the Orange & Alexandria in 1886. This frame depot was dismantled in 1904 and replaced by a brick passenger depot. On June 25, 1914 a fire broke out in the baggage room and the depot burned, leaving only the foundation and walls.

Work on the third and present depot was completed in October 1914, in a red-brick Victorian style with a ceramic tile-covered hipped roof. The structure partially incorporated the walls of the burned depot, which measured about 20 feet by 77 feet, and had four new rooms; an office, a ladies’ waiting room, men’s waiting room and a baggage and express room. The “new” structure is about 32 feet longer than the earlier one permitting a modified room arrangement and included the addition of an umbrella shed on the front and east side, the installation of electric lights, and an attractive tile roof.

In the 1990s, the city of Manassas acquired the depot from Norfolk Southern Railway and restored the structure under the direction of The Manassas Museum System. Renovation was completed in 1997 after two and a half years of work by the city of Manassas Department of Historic Resources. The redesign was done by Dalgleish, Eichman, Gilpin, & Paxton; construction by Mass Contracting; and exhibits by PRD Group, Ltd.

Rehabilitation included returning the building as closely as possible to its 1914 look while accommodating modern uses. Restored features include paint colors, repointed brick, new plaster, overhaul of all mechanical systems, addition of fire and security systems, wood moldings, reproductions of original doors and light fixtures and return of the distinctive clay tile roof, made by the same company that did the 1914 roof.

Great American Stations

he first Culpeper station was constructed in 1852 by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. It built two depots, one on the east side for freight and one on the west side for passengers. Though the buildings survived the Civil War, the fighting took its toll, and in 1874, a new Culpeper train depot was erected. However, it burned down in 1903 and was replaced a year later with the current one story building.

A period of decline prompted Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) to request permission to demolish a portion of the depot in 1985. A citizens’ committee formed to save the building; subsequently, the Town of Culpeper and Culpeper Renaissance, Inc. (CRI), a certified Virginia Main Street organization, began restoration work. In 1995, CRI and the town successfully prepared a $700,000 renovation grant under the Virginia Department of Transportation Enhancement Program.

Three years later, NS officially transferred the building deed to the town, and in 2000 the renovated depot opened to the public. Additional work to the freight section was completed in 2003. Today, the station is occupied by the Culpeper Visitors Center, chamber of commerce, Culpeper Department of Tourism and the Museum of Culpeper History. The former freight section serves as conference space that can be rented for meetings and social events. The depot is truly a downtown anchor, playing host to a wide array of outdoor events, such as a vibrant weekly Farmers’ Market held from May through November.

Great American Stations

he Danville Amtrak station was designed for the Southern Railway by Frank P. Milburn and completed in 1899. The elongated structure, decorated with fancy stepped gables, recalled the Renaissance architecture of the Low Countries. In 1915, a track expansion required that the track be moved 133 feet to the northeast. The station was jacked up on rollers and crews used mules and stump pullers to relocate the building.

In 1922, the depot burned and was rebuilt within its original walls in modified form. A central tower was not reconstructed, and the interior was simplified. The building later fell into disuse and for years the Amtrak passengers had to walk through an underground tunnel and wait on a platform between the tracks.

The station was temporarily closed to passenger service in 1993 and it was purchased by the city. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. A group of civic leaders sought out federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Enhancement Act (ISTEA) funding in 1995 to renovate the historical train station and surrounding area. Partnering with Amtrak, Pepsi-Cola, the Virginia Department of Transportation and other private sources, the city was able to construct a public market, a park with amphitheater, a science center in the train depot, a community meeting and recreation facility, and a transportation center. The station renovations were completed in 1996. This project spurred investment in other warehouse properties which have been redeveloped into offices, commercial spaces, apartments, lofts, and restaurants.

Great American Stations