Bristol station (Virginia)

Bristol station (locally known as Union Station and Bristol Train Station) is a historic railroad station in Bristol, Virginia, USA, just north of the Tennessee state line. Built in 1902, the station was served by passenger trains until 1971. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Bristol Railroad Station in 1980.

Bristol station
Bristol station from the west in 2020
General information
Location	101 M.L.K. Jr Boulevard, Bristol, Virginia
History
Opened	1865
Closed	May 1, 1971
Rebuilt	1902
Former services
Preceding station Norfolk and Western Railway Following station Terminus Bristol – Roanoke Emory toward Roanoke Preceding station Southern Railway Following station Bluff City toward Memphis Memphis – Bristol Terminus Haskell toward St. Charles Appalachia Division
Bristol Railroad Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Landmarks Register
Coordinates	36°35′44″N 82°10′47″W
Area	4.5 acres (1.8 ha)
Built	1891 (1891), 1902
NRHP reference No.	80004173[1]
VLR No.	102-0011
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 28, 1980
Designated VLR	September 16, 1980[2]

History

Postcard of Bristol station, c. 1915–1930

Rail service first reached Bristol in 1856. A new station was built in 1902 by the Norfolk and Western Railway at a cost of $79,000 (equivalent to $2,780,000 in 2023).^[3] It is a one- to two-story brick building consisting of a tower section; a long seven-bay, one-story midsection; and a six-bay, two-story east end. The tower has a hipped roof with deep overhanging eaves supported by long sawn brackets. Stylistically, the station fits into the pattern of early 20th-century American eclecticism, combining Romanesque with various European vernacular modes. Associated with the station is a brick freight house constructed in 1883 and expanded in 1891.^[4]

Named trains and end of service

Several N&W trains served the station into the late 1960s:

• Birmingham Special—New York City to Birmingham, and branch to Memphis
• Pelican—New York to New Orleans
• Tennessean—Washington to Memphis

Passenger service to Bristol station ended with the discontinuance of the Birmingham Special on April 30, 1971, when Amtrak assumed control for intercity passenger service in the United States.^[3] The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as the Bristol Railroad Station.^[1] Around 2017, with Amtrak extending one daily Northeast Regional round trip to Roanoke, Bristol officials began advocating for a further extension to Bristol.^[5]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
3. Tennis, Joe (May 18, 2017). "Bristol shows off train station Sunday". Bristol Herald Courier.
4. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (August 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Bristol Railroad Station" (PDF).
   Accompanying four photos
5. Counts, Doug (January 12, 2018). "Bristol, VA city leaders seeking proposals for Amtrak study". WHJL.

External links

Media related to Bristol station (Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons

• History of the Bristol Train station
• Bristol Train Station