Along Back Roads - South through Virginia

I know that it's hard to believe, but I'm continuing to post photos from our long road trip this past October.  It was an active trip with lots of exploration and related camera work... We are now on the last leg of this little adventure...but we did encounter quite a few more sights and we enjoyed several more interesting stops along the way.

Heading south from Culpeper Virginia, we followed US Hwy 522 for a few miles before jumping on VA Hwy 615.  I chose this 'back roads' route over the more heavily traveled US Hwy 15.  It wasn't too long before we came across a couple of interesting places...

Needless to say, this combination of church structures in Rapidan Virginia definitely captured our attention.  The church with the red door is the Emmanuel Episcopal Church.  After a series of floods, the worst one being in January of 1998, the church was moved from its original location on the banks of the Rapidan River to this much safer location on higher ground 110 feet from the river.  The structure was almost destroyed by the flood but the small congregation managed to fund it's relocation and repair.  

Mystery unsolved... I couldn't find any information about the small church building at the right of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church.  Is it old or just built to look old?  What is it's function?  Certainly the juxtaposition of the 2 structures is unusual and draws the eye of any passerby's.

I borrowed this photo from an article on the Internet.  It shows the attractive and eye-catching interior of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church as it appears after the restoration.  How old is this church?  It already was 134 years old when the flood almost destroyed it...and this year it will celebrate its 161st year of worship.

Research had assured me that at one time in relatively recent history, there was a depot or depots in Rapidan Virginia.  Rapidan is bisected by the Rapidan River.  It began as a small milling community named Waugh's Mill in the late 1700s.  When the Orange and Alexandria Railroad came to town in 1854, the town was renamed "Rapid Ann Station". (Named after a fast moving stream for Princess Ann) During the American Civil War, several raids resulted in the destruction of most of the town's buildings.  

Apparently, if the sign is accurate, this old freight depot was originally built in 1853.  As you can see, it has been massively refurbished, (note the skylights), and it now provides what appears to be home for a family or two.

This is the former Southern Railway Passenger Depot in Rapidan.  The original Orange and Alexandria Railway station was established here in 1854 but was destroyed during the Civil War.  This 'new station' was built in 1876 by the Charlottesville and Rapidan Railroad to serve the rail line between Orange and Charlottesville Virginia.  That line was was eventually merged into the Southern Railway and it now serves the Norfolk Southern mainline through the area.  As can be seen in the photo, this 149 year old depot has been 'saved' and converted into a family home.

Moving on in a southerly direction, our next stop was in Orange Virginia and, of course yet another old railway depot.  The Colonial Revival style Orange Railway Station served the Southern Railway and it was completed in 1910.  Passenger service to Orange was discontinued in the early 1970s.  This old depot was renovated in 1997 and it now serves as the home of the Orange County Department of Tourism and the Visitors Bureau.

I much prefer photos of these old depots with trains passing by, especially if they're passenger trains.  As you can see in the first photo, Amtrak regularly passes the depot...but although it looks good, Orange Virginia is not an Amtrak stop.  

The second photo shows the Texas and Pacific Railway's Locomotive 610 (AKA the "Will Rogers") steaming past the Orange depot in July of 1978.  At the time this rare 2-10-4 heavy locomotive was on loan to the Southern Railway to pull excursion trains for the company's steam program.  FYI, this locomotive was built by the Lima Locomotive Works in June of 1927.  This type of locomotive was designed to pull fast and heavy freight trains.

From Orange, I diverted toward the southwest along VA Hwy 20, with even less traffic along the way.  

Yes...one more old railway depot!  This is the old depot at Montpelier Station Virginia.  This depot is a bit special and also unusual.  As of 2010, it became an exhibit as part of the President James Madison's Montpelier Estate on the National Register of Historic Places. (We'd visited that estate many years earlier).  As of 1983, the estate was passed on to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.   

Montpelier was purchased by William du Pont in 1901.  He wanted convenience and he certainly had the money so he paid to have this depot built in order to bring in supplies...and for his weekly travel to Wilmington Delaware for business.  The depot served as a passenger 'whistle stop' from 1912 through 1929.  FYI, a railway 'whistle stop' is a place where trains only stop on request.  Freight service was handled by this depot beginning in 1911 and it ceased in 1962.

The station was designed by the Southern Railway Company using one of its standard floor plans...which called for segregated waiting rooms.  You can see the "Colored" sign over the door at the right while the "White" door is at the left.  The ticket office had separate windows allowing service for both rooms.

In 2008, the Montpelier Foundation began renovating the Depot.  The goal was to restore it to its original appearance in order to document this period of legalized segregation in Virginia and to educate the public about the Jim Crow era.  The exhibit is entitled "The Montpelier Train Depot: In the Time of Segregation".  To learn more about historic Montpelier as an attraction and as President James Madison's home, go to https://www.montpelier.org/. 

From the beginning, as shown above, a United States Post Office was located at the far end of the Montpelier Depot.  But in June of 2022, some Federal government body or official decided that the racial aspects of the depot's exhibits reflected poorly on the Postal Service/Federal Government and the post office was closed.  The closure didn't last long as protests and complaints...plus political pressure...brought about the Post Office's reopening in October of 2022.  This facility serves over 100 local families.

Next stop, Staunton Virginia!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave