Christiansburg Depot - Christiansburg, Virginia
N 37° 08.470 W 080° 24.294
17S E 552851 N 4110698
The Christiansburg Depot is also known as the Cambria Freigh Station was built between 1868 and 1870
Waymark Code: WM1MJP
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 06/02/2007
Views: 137
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
The Christiansburg Depot is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Source/Credit: Virginia Department of Historic Resources
Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: No
Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes
If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?:
The Depot is currently home to a small art and craft store and is also being used by local craftsmen to build and refinish furniture.
What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: Virginia-Tennessee Railroad, Norfolk and Western
Station/Depot Web Site: Not listed
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