Owned by City of Danville Tracks 1 | Platforms 1 side platform Disabled access Yes | |
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Location 677 Craighead Street
Danville, VA
United States Line(s) Norfolk Southern Railway | ||
The Danville station, also known as Danville Southern Railway Passenger Depot, is a historic train station in Danville, Virginia. It is currently served by Amtrak, the United States' national passenger rail service, and is a stop on the Crescent line.
History
The station was built in 1899 from plans drawn by the noted Southern Railway architect, Frank Pierce Milburn. In 1915, a track expansion required that the track be moved 133 feet to the northeast. The station was jacked up on rollers, and crews used mules and stump pullers to roll the building. It is said that the move was done so skillfully that not a single brick was cracked.
In 1922, the building was almost destroyed by fire during a raging snowstorm. Southern Railway rebuilt the building to its original specifications, minus the spire that had formerly graced its roofline. With the demise of public rail transit, the building fell into disuse, and for years, Amtrak passengers had to walk through an underground tunnel and wait on a platform between the tracks. In 1993 it was closed to passenger service temporarily and bought by the City of Danville.
In 1995, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The same year, a group of local civic leaders sought federal ISTEA funding and local contributions to renovate the station. It is now part of the campus of the Danville Science Center, the first satellite facility of the Science Museum of Virginia. It also includes the Danville Farmer's Market and a former Pepsi Cola bottling warehouse.