Montpelier Station, Virginia Explained

Official Name:Montpelier Station, Virginia
Settlement Type:Unincorporated community
Pushpin Map:Virginia#USA
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:Virginia
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Orange
Timezone:Eastern (EST)
Utc Offset:-5
Timezone Dst:EDT
Utc Offset Dst:-4
Elevation Ft:492
Coordinates:38.2281°N -78.1767°W
Postal Code Type:ZIP code
Postal Code:22957
Area Code:540
Blank Name:GNIS feature ID
Blank Info:1470693

Montpelier Station is an unincorporated community in Orange County, Virginia, United States. Montpelier Station is located along Virginia State Route 20 3.5miles west-southwest of Orange. Montpelier Station has a post office with ZIP code 22957.[1]

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.[2] Rockwood, a house listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is also located in Montpelier Station.

Montpelier Station railroad depot

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.[3] 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.[4] 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.

Following the death of Marion du Pont Scott in 1983, the Montpelier Estate was passed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[5] 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."[6] The building housed the Montpelier Station post office prior to October 2008[7] and from August 2009[8] to June 2022.[9]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Search Results for ZIP code 22957 . ZipInfo.com . CD Light, LLC . August 18, 2022.
  2. Web site: Train Depot . . June 25, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101008223050/http://montpelier.org/blog/?tag=train-depot . October 8, 2010.
  3. Web site: Montpelier Depot, State Route 20 at Orange County Road 639, Montpelier Station, Orange County, VA. July 25, 2021. Library of Congress.
  4. News: Kennicott. Philip. February 28, 2010. Montpelier train station preserves the architecture of segregation. en-US. July 25, 2021. 0190-8286. The Washington Post.
  5. Web site: History of Montpelier. July 25, 2021. The Digital Montpelier Project.
  6. Web site: The Historic Montpelier Train Station. July 25, 2021. Visit Virginia. Virginia Tourism Corporation. en-us.
  7. Web site: The Montpelier Depot Restoration Begins! . James Madison's Montpelier . August 19, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101221112814/http://montpelier.org/blog/?p=2677 . December 21, 2010 . October 2, 2008.
  8. Web site: Depot Update: Post Office Reopens . James Madison's Montpelier . August 18, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101009013944/http://montpelier.org/blog/?p=2791 . October 9, 2010 . en . July 29, 2009.
  9. News: Associated Press . August 17, 2022 . Concerns over segregation display led to post office closure . August 18, 2022 . ABC News . en.