Southern Railway Passenger Station (Westminster, South Carolina)

Southern Railway Passenger Station is railway passenger depot built ca. 1885 in Westminster, South Carolina.[2][3][4] It is one of the oldest buildings in the community.

Southern Railway Passenger Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Southern Railway Passenger Station in 2010 after restoration
Location	129 Main St. Westminster, South Carolina
Coordinates	34°39′57″N 83°5′46.5″W
Built	ca. 1885
NRHP reference No.	76001707[1]
Added to NRHP	November 7, 1976

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]

History

The Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad, a predecessor of the Southern Railway, was built in the early 1870s and Westminster was built along the railroad tracks. The station is believed to have been built about 1885. It has a rectangular plan with dimensions of 96 by 40 feet (29 m × 12 m). It has a deep hip roof. Built of wood, it was covered with asbestos siding in around 1940. It had two waiting rooms, an office, and a baggage room. It ceased being used as a passenger depot in 1969 when passenger service to the city was suspended.

It was converted into community uses such as a meeting room and a community health center. In 2006, it suffered damage in a fire. The station was rebuilt.

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. McNulty, Katharine N; Mrs. E.D. Breazeale (March 30, 1976). "Southern Railway Passenger Station" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
3. "Southern Railway Passenger Station, Oconee County (129 Main St., Westminster)". National Register Properties in South Carolina. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
4. Aheron, Piper Peters (1998). Oconee County. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishers. p. 51. ISBN 0-7385-6870-8.