| 1851 |
The
Virginia-Tennessee Railroad chose the site for the Christiansburg
Depot a mile north of courthouse square on the north side of Zion
Hill. (Visit Schaffer
Memorial Baptist Church and the original Christiansburg Institute
on the top of Zion Hill) |
| 1854 |
The Virginia-Tennessee Railroad reaches Christiansburg.
(Take the Dixie Caverns Exit in I-81 and follow US 460/Rt.11 towards
Christiansburg. The route parallels the Virginia-Tennessee rail line
past Lafayette, founded in 1826, and through two railroad villages:
Elliston and Shawsville before climbing Christiansburg Mountain. Stay
on 470/Rt.11 until you reach Depot Street in Christiansbug to reach
the Christiansburg Depot.) |
| 1857 |
The first permanent station was built at the north end
of Main Street (on the site, more or less, of the "new masonry
depot built in 1906). |
| 1864 |
The first depot, plus commissary buildings and a recreation
hall, were burned
by Union troops under the leadership of Brigadier General William
W. Averell. (For more information on Montgomery County during the
Civil War, visit the Montgomery
Museum and Lewis Miller Regional Art Center on Pepper Street in
Christiansburg) |
| 1868 to 1870 |
The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad constructed the
new depot as part of the rebuilding ofthe railroad under the leadership
of its new president, General
William Mahone. During this period, Mahone consolidated the Virginia
and Tennesse with several other roads, forming the Atlantic,
Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad. |
| 1873 |
The Bangs Post Office (original name of Cambria) opened
near the depot. The Christiansburg Depot, in addition to providing
passenger and freight service, also served as the transfer point for
the resort at Yellow
Sulphur Springs, six miles to the northwest. |
| 1876 |
The A.M.&O. Railroad went into receivership.
Purchasers of the railroad in 1881 remaned the railroad Norfolk
and Western. |
| 1882 |
In July, a duel was fought near the depot
by J. Stuart Crockett of Whythville and John S. Wise of Richmond.
Both combatants arrived by rail with their seconds, having selected
Bangs (Cambria) as a convenient middle point between their respectibve
places of residence. The duel, resulting in no injuries, was fought
a short distance up Yellow Sulphur Springs Road (now Cambria Street).
The duel was Wise's last and led to his much publicized decision to
fight no more duels (an example which was instrumental in ending the
practice in Virginia). |
| 1885 |
The community took the name of Ronald in
honor of a local Confederate hero,
Captain Charles A. Ronald, the leader of the Montgomery Highlanders
( Company E of the 4th Virginia Militia). |
| 1892 |
The community changed the name from Ronald
to Cambria. |
| 1906 |
The Town of Cambria was officially
incorporated. In the same year, the new masonary passenger station
was erected at the site 400 yards east of the original station and
the old depot was converted for use solely as a freight station.
The conversion of the building as a freight facility resulted in
several significant alterations to its structure. The freight section
was cut away from the passenger section and raised 25 inches, creating
the existing short gable on the west end of the freight room. A
problem with rot under the front section (waiting rooms) was solved
by cutting 25 inches off the entire bottom of the passenger rooms
(look at the height of the chair rail when you visit the Cambria
Toy Station). An additional thirty feet of freight room was
added to the east end of the building, and the original slate roof
was replaced by a standing
seam tin roof.
|
| 1960 |
The Christiansburg Station (Cambria Depot) was retired
from service by the railroad and ownership subsequently shifted to
Cash Lumber Co. and later to Mitchell Sales. |
| 1964 |
Cambria was annexed by Christiansburg. While it officially
became known as North Christiansburg, it unofficially continued to
be referred to and is still referred to as Cambria. |
| 1981 |
The eastern end of the freight section of the Cambria
Depot (the Christiansburg Station's popular name) was demolished by
two box cars from the sub siding behind the building. In one sense
one could attribute the actual restoration of the original
depot building to this mishap for the section destroyed was the thirty
feet added in 1906! |
| 1983 |
The Christianburg (Cambria) Depot was acquired by Helen
and James Dorsett for the purpose of its rehabilitation and restoration
as an historic structure and a useful building in the life of the
Cambria community. |
| 1984 |
Rehabiliation work began in January. While all of the
basic structural work was completed during the first year of rehabilitation,
much remained to be accomplished before the project was finished.
Part of the remaining work involved rehabilitating the community's
view of the depot (especially given the predominant view that the
building should have been razed and turned into a parking lot). Dorsett
Publications relocated to the Depot in the late summer of 1984. |
| 1985 |
The Christiansburg Depot was placed on the Virginia
Landmarks Register on April 16th and was endorsed by the Virginia
Historic Landmarks Commission for placement on the National Register
of Historic Places. The Depot entered the National Register of Historic
Places in December, 1985. |
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Historic
Christiansburg Depot
The
Christiansburg Depot is one of the only two known surviving railroad structures
erected during the Reconstruction period in southwest Virginia. the building
is significant not only because it is one of the oldest depots in the
state of Virginia, but also because it embodies the elements of high style
