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Montpelier Station, Virginia

Coordinates: 38°13′41″N 78°10′36″W / 38.22806°N 78.17667°W / 38.22806; -78.17667
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Montpelier Station, Virginia
Unincorporated community
The Montpelier Station Rail Depot Museum and US Post Office
The Montpelier Station Rail Depot Museum and US Post Office
Montpelier Station, Virginia is located in Virginia
Montpelier Station, Virginia
Montpelier Station, Virginia
Montpelier Station, Virginia is located in the United States
Montpelier Station, Virginia
Montpelier Station, Virginia
Coordinates: 38°13′41″N 78°10′36″W / 38.22806°N 78.17667°W / 38.22806; -78.17667
CountryUnited States
StateVirginia
CountyOrange
Elevation
492 ft (150 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
22957
Area code540
GNIS feature ID1470693[1]

Montpelier Station is an unincorporated community in Orange County, Virginia, United States. Montpelier Station is located along Virginia State Route 20 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west-southwest of Orange. Montpelier Station has a post office with ZIP code 22957.[2]

The community is home to a historic railroad depot, which opened in 1910 and became an exhibit at James Madison's Montpelier estate in 2010.[3] Rockwood, a house listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is also located in Montpelier Station.[4]

Montpelier Station railroad depot

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William du Pont purchased the Montpelier Estate in 1901 and paid to have a train depot built there to bring in supplies and for his weekly travel to Wilmington, Delaware for business.[5] The station was designed by the Southern Railway Company using one of its standard floor plans, which called for segregated waiting rooms. The "White" waiting room measured 14 feet wide by 15.6 feet long. The "Colored" waiting room measured 9 feet long by 15.6 feet wide. Signs for "Colored" and "White" were installed over each door.[6] Both waiting rooms were served by a single ticket office, which had two windows that intersected both rooms at an angle.

Freight service began in 1911 and ceased in 1962. Passenger service began in 1912 and cased in 1929, after which time the time postal area on the first floor was enlarged.[5]

Following the death of Marion du Pont Scott in 1983, the Montpelier Estate was passed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[7] In 2008, the Montpelier Foundation undertook a renovation of the Depot, restoring it to its original 1910s appearance in order to document this period of legalized segregation in Virginia and educate the public about the Jim Crow era. On February 21, 2010, the restored Depot reopened with a new exhibition inside, "The Montpelier Train Depot: In the Time of Segregation."[8] The building housed the Montpelier Station post office prior to October 2008[9] and from August 2009[10] to June 2022.[11]

References

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  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Montpelier Station, Virginia
  2. ^ "Search Results for ZIP code 22957". ZipInfo.com. CD Light, LLC. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  3. ^ "Train Depot". James Madison's Montpelier. Archived from the original on October 8, 2010. Retrieved June 25, 2010.
  4. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  5. ^ a b "Montpelier Depot, State Route 20 at Orange County Road 639, Montpelier Station, Orange County, VA". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  6. ^ Kennicott, Philip (February 28, 2010). "Montpelier train station preserves the architecture of segregation". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  7. ^ "History of Montpelier". The Digital Montpelier Project. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  8. ^ "The Historic Montpelier Train Station". Visit Virginia. Virginia Tourism Corporation. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  9. ^ "The Montpelier Depot Restoration Begins!". James Madison's Montpelier. October 2, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  10. ^ "Depot Update: Post Office Reopens". James Madison's Montpelier. July 29, 2009. Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  11. ^ "Concerns over segregation display led to post office closure". ABC News. Associated Press. August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
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