Union Station (Petersburg)

Petersburg Union Station is a former train station in Petersburg, Virginia. It was built in 1909–1910 for the Norfolk and Western Railway, and was later used by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Amtrak.

Petersburg
Petersburg Union Station in 2005
Location	103 River Street, Petersburg, Virginia
Coordinates	37°14′3.4″N 77°24′9.2″W
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station Nottoway County toward Chicago Mountaineer 1975–1977 Suffolk toward Norfolk Preceding station Norfolk and Western Railway Following station Jack toward Cincinnati Main Line Poe toward Norfolk Preceding station Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Following station Jarratt toward Tampa Main Line Richmond Terminus
Petersburg Union Station
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Built	1909-1910
Architect	Norfolk and Western Railway
Part of	Petersburg Old Town Historic District (ID80004314[1])
Designated CP	July 4, 1980

History

Union Station in 1921

The Pocahantas at Petersburg in 1970

The Petersburg Railroad (opened 1833) and Richmond and Petersburg Railroad (opened 1838) ran north-south on a winding route through Petersburg. The two lines merged in 1898 and became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1900. The ACL used a station located at Washington Street and Union Street.[2] The east-west Southside Railroad, predecessor of the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W), opened in the early 1850s. It used a still-extant station at River Street and Rock Street.

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL) opened its own north-south line through Petersburg in 1900, crossing the Appomattox River on a high bridge. The SAL had a passenger station at Dunlop Street for through trains, and terminating passenger and freight stations at Market Street on a spur line.[3] The SAL never used Union Station; the Dunlop Street station was replaced with a brick station near Bluefield Street in 1944.

In 1909-10, the N&W constructed Union Station at the junction with the ACL near Third Street.[2] It allowed riders to transfer between the Norfolk–Cincinnati trains - the Cavalier, Pocahontas and Powhatan Arrow - and ACL Florida–New York trains. The ACL moved to a new station in Ettrick on a western bypass route in 1955, leaving only the N&W at Union Station.

When Amtrak took over intercity passenger service on May 1, 1971, east-west service on the N&W was discontinued, while north-south service continued to use the Ettrick station. From 1975 to 1977, Amtrak operated the Norfolk-Cincinnati Mountaineer, with a stop at Union Station[4] The Hilltopper, which replaced the Mountaineer and ran until 1979, used a station located slightly to the west at Fleet Street instead.

Union Station is part of the Petersburg Old Town Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[5]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Willoughby, Laura E. (2006). Petersburg. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 100–103. ISBN 0-7385-4285-7.
3. First Annual Report of the Seaboard Air Line Railway. 1901. p. 10.
4. Amtrak (May 15, 1975). "All-America Schedules". Retrieved March 22, 2010.
5. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (November 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Petersburg Old Town Historic District" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo and Accompanying map Archived December 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Petersburg River Street Station (USA Rail Guide - Train Web)