Carolinian

he brick and ceramic tile Salisbury station was designed by Frank P. Milburn for Southern Railway in the Spanish Mission style. It opened in 1908, becoming one of North Carolina’s gateways to its Piedmont region. The stop was originally on the main-line between Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, Ga.; at it height of its use in 1911, as many as 44 trains per day passed through.

The Salisbury passenger station was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The building spans two city blocks and includes a two-course water table dividing the dark red brick base and tan brick body on the building, Spanish tile roof, and a dominating central three and one-half-story tower ornamented by projecting gargoyles.

Founded in 1753 in Rowan County, Salisbury is one of North Carolina’s oldest cities. Daniel Boone’s father, Squire Boone, was one of the first justices appointed in the county, and young Daniel hunted and fished on the Yadkin River years before making his reputation as a wilderness pathfinder. A marker on the Salisbury Square identifies the beginning of the famous Boone Trail. Andrew Jackson, who eventually became the seventh president of the United States, also lived for a while in Salisbury, where he started his law career before moving to Tennessee.

By 1855, Salisbury had become an important rail junction, connecting the Piedmont to eastern North Carolina. It is during this period that many of the beautiful structures in the town were built. Sadly, Salisbury is most often remembered as the site of a very large Confederate military prison during the Civil War where, due to blockades of food and medicine during the latter part of the war, thousands of prisoners died of disease and starvation. However, the citizens of the town were not insensible to their conditions, and provided what charity they could, though they were far outnumbered by the prisoners. After surrender in 1865, the many thousands incarcerated were released, and the prison burned. Though many graves were moved, it is estimated that about 5,000 Union soldiers still lie in unmarked graves in the beautifully maintained historic Salisbury National Cemetery.

Great American Stations

he High Point passenger depot is a brick and stone structure built in 1907 by the Southern Railway Company in the heart of downtown High Point. It was designed in the Richardson Romanesque architectural style, with a rusticated ashlar base and tiled hip roof.

As in many cities, trains and street crossings began to impede growing automobile traffic. In the late 1930s, a city-state-federal project built a one-mile trench up to 35 feet deep through which the trains could travel. The retaining walls at the station included Moderne-detailed concrete. A walkway across the tracks and a passenger staircase to the platform at track level were constructed.

In the mid-1970s, Southern Railway leased the station to a restaurant and built a small green metal building at the rear of the station for passengers. Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) reached an agreement for Amtrak to take over passenger service in 1978, and Amtrak took over Southern’s passenger operations in 1979.

By 1990, the station and platform were in disrepair, dirty and the restaurant failing. The city government considered demolishing the station entirely. However, some High Point citizens made station restoration their cause. Three years later, the city government saw merit in the project and joined the North Carolina Department of Transportation in preparing a $3 million request for funds to restore and enhance the station.

High Point was located at the highest point of the 1856 NCRR between Charlotte and Goldsboro where it intersected the 1852 Great Western Plank Road. Its central location and transportation allowed for the delivery of raw materials like cotton and lumber and processed goods in and out of the city and contributed to its early growth. High Point was incorporated in 1859. Before it became a major manufacturing center, the most important industries were tobacco, woodworking and textiles. The first of many High Point furniture factories was opened in 1889.

Great American Stations