Few People Realize How Much Railroad History Is Preserved In The Small Town Of Burlington, North Carolina
By Carolyn Harmon|Published April 06, 2023
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Carolyn Harmon
Author
Under Brown Mountain Lights the Beast of Blandenboro wanders this magical land where lighthouses shine on kingdoms only accessible by ferries. A Lost Colony of legends and pirates revealed in historical sites and majestic mountains with views that make us weep. The home of handmade sculptures and scrumptious cuisine. North Carolina leaves this long-time writer and artist breathless with endless surprises, including the unlikely warmth a winter walk on the beach can bring.
The preserved railroad history in Burlington, North Carolina, gives a picture of how the small town was born and its vital purpose for the North Carolina Railroad in the 1850s. In 1849, the North Carolina Railroad was chartered as a 223-mile-long corridor between Charlotte and Goldsboro. With the railroad came progress and the Town of Company Shops that was built around the engine house. The 631-acre site was home to a company headquarters to repair and maintain the railroad cars and track. Company Shops was renamed Burlington in 1887.
The Company Shops Rail Locomotive
was built in 1877 and photographed here in about 1880 at Company Shops, which became Burlington, North Carolina, in 1887.
The building in the background was renovated as the Burlington Amtrak station.
The Amtrak train station, built in the 1850s, is the oldest structure in Burlington and a valuable remnant of the NC Railroad Company Shops Station as so many burned in a 1918 fire.
Burlington Station, 101 N Main St, Burlington, NC 27217, USA
This Norfolk & Western caboose is another symbol of the railroad history and was donated to the City of Burlington by Norfolk Southern Railway in 1993.