Historic Montpelier Railroad Depot

Situated off Route 20 in Orange County on the outskirts of James Madison’s Montpelier, is a nicely preserved train station that dates to 1911. 

The station was built by the Southern Railway to provide transportation for William DuPont, who had purchased the Montpelier property in 1901. The station operated until 1967, at which time rail service to the station ceased.

The station was later repurposed to serve as a post office. In an effort to shed light on the painful truths of the past, renovations were made to restore the station to its appearance circa the 1910s. The project started in 2008 and was completed in 2010 with the unveiling of the exhibit, “The Montpelier Train Depot: In the Time of Segregation.”

The exhibit features interpretive displays explaining the Jim Crow era and the racial injustices that occurred. The station consists of a freight room, an office, and separate waiting rooms labeled “colored” and “white,” accessible by exterior doors labeled in the same fashion.

Although the station is no longer a stopping point, trains still rumble past at regular intervals, echoing the past from the outside just as the permanent exhibit recalls the past inside the station.