Cambria Freight Station - Christiansburg, Virginia - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In 1851, the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad chose a site nearly a mile north of the courthouse square on the north side of Zion Hill for the location of the Christiansburg depot. Secondary sources state that Christiansburg's citizens opposed the location of a train yard within the town's boundaries because of the noise, smoke and danger associated with steam locomotives. An equally plausible explanation for the unusual separation of town and depot is that negotiation of the very steep grades required in climbing the mountain from Salem, the next major stop to the east, dictated the path of the tracks. The railroad company, chartered in 1849 as the Lynchburg & Tennessee, built the first railroad to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains into Southwest Virginia, enabling farmers and manufacturers to reach desirable markets in the rest of Virginia and beyond.

The railroad reached Christiansburg in 1854, and a permanent station building was
Constructed in 1857 at the north end of Christiansburg's Main Street. Union troops
burned the depot complex, including commissary buildings and a recreation hall, in
the spring of 1862 as a part of the destruction of tracks and related buildings between
Richmond and Bristol, the principal supply link between Richmond and the deep South.

The new depot at Christiansburg was constructed by the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad
between 1868 and 1870. The new site (present site) was some 400 yards to the west of the original station and may have been chosen in response to the growth the community.

In 1906 a new passenger station was constructed to the east and the current building became known as the Old Cambria Freight Station. Today local craftsmen who build and refinish furniture occupy the old freight station

Source/Credit: Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Street address: 630 Depot Street Christiansburg, Va. United States 24073 County / Borough / Parish: Montgomery County Year listed: 1985 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture, Engineering Periods of significance: 1850 - 1874 Historic function: Rail Related Transportation Current function: Commercial Trade - Local Craftsmen Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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