A Railroad Town

A Railroad Town. The railroad that brought such destruction to Manassas became the catalyst for its recovery. Returning residents and new arrivals built hotels, factories and businesses along the rail line. Trains exported local products to regional markets. As the community grew, streets were laid out and homes built. Soon a thriving town existed on what had been a barren landscape., In 1896, the Southern Railway took over the line running through Manassas. Offering freight and commuter services, the Southern made Manassas a railroad town in the truest sense of the word. Today, freight trains still rumble by on a daily basis and Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express provide regular inter-city and commuter services., [Aside:] , My father commuted twenty-eight years back and forth on the train. One night he came back and was quite elated because he had seen Colonel John S. Mosby on the train. He was a great admirer of Mosby. , , Virginia Speiden Carper, [Captions:] , This 1869 map of Manassas shows how the town grew up along the rail line. , , Manassas Museum Collection, A Southern freight train passes in front of the Southern States building, 1950. Businesses like this took advantage of the cheap transportation the railroad provided to ship goods to distant markets. , , Manassas Museum Collection, An early Southern Railway schedule illustrates the long-standing relationship has with trains. , , Manassas Museum Collection