The Amherst Depot

The Amherst Depot. . , The first depot in Amherst (then known as Dearborn) was built in the late 1800s for the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. This depot would be replaced in November 1913 by the Southern Railway when it took over the O&A and expanded its operation in Amherst County. Southern Railway contracted with Pettyjohn Company in nearby Lynchburg to construct a new passenger station costing $4,712. The depot's construction of longleaf pine siding and a red tile roof was the typical architectural style of the early railroad stations. A ticket booth extended outward from the center facing the tracks with waiting rooms on each side, one for black folks and the other for white folks. A freight depot was located across Depot Street., In the 1920s renovation were made, converting the south waiting room into a freight depot and changing exterior colors as shown on the postcard image to the left., Until the 1940s three passenger trains stopped at this depot each day. Passenger service would end in the 1960s. Freight pick-up and drop-off ended in the mid-1970s. In 1985 the depot passed into the private ownership of Marshall Mays, owner of Mays Farmers Service Co. In the spring of 1995 Mr. Mays offered the depot to the Amherst Chamber of Commerce as well as this .62-acre lot it now rests upon, approximately one quarter mile from its original location. Fortune has smiled upon the depot, being restored by the County of Amherst and, most fittingly, still stands near the train tracks. . This historical marker is in Amherst in Amherst County Virginia