For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 04/16/1985
NRHP Listing Date 12/12/1985
NPS property number 85003351
The architecturally delightful Cambria Depot is a small-town celebration of early rail travel. The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad reached Christiansburg in 1854 and a depot, built in the present-day suburb of Cambria, was opened in 1857. Union troops burned the depot in 1864; its replacement, the present depot, was part of the railroad restoration program instigated by the rail company’s new president, William Mahone. The Italianate style chosen for the depot was popular for railroad structures of the time. In Country Seats (1865), author Henry Holley states that the easily constructed Italian style was “appropriate for stations in rural settings.” The depot was converted to a freight station in 1906 when a new station was built nearby. The building was sold into private ownership and restored for adaptive reuse in the 1980s. It remains one of the oldest depots in the state.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated April 4, 2018
