Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

People, Site, Transportation

Location

208 N Garnett St, Henderson, NC 27536, USA

Lat/Long

36.327600207629, -78.401743477834

Grant Recipient

Vance County Historical Society

In 1838, the Henderson Depot was established by the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad after acquiring ten acres of property for the purpose of establishing a depot there. This development proved a major boon to the community growing in the region.

Prior to the Henderson Depot, the area was largely farmland. With the addition of the railroad, all that changed. Soon, Henderson was a thriving center of business, and a key stopping point between Raleigh and Gaston. The depot allowed Henderson to flourish, and according to the City of Henderson website, “many businesses began to spring up along what is now Garnett Street including saloons, mercantiles and hotels. Local landowners donated tracts of land on which the railroad built warehousing and shipping facilities.”

At the center of all this growth was the Henderson Depot.

Though built initially by the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad, the depot would eventually become a part of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad Company when the two companies merged. The depot would continue to operate on their main line throughout most of the 20^th century. Similarly, the 10-acres of property and built spaces it contained would change throughout its existence; the marker sits in front of the former freight depot, which was built sometime during the end of the 19^th century or early 20^th century and has since been converted into office space.

Along with providing a valuable connection to nearby commercial centers, the Henderson Depot also proved a popular stomping ground for politicians. Both President James Polk and then Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt making stops there, and according to some secondary accounts, Henry Clay and James Buchanan visited the depot as well, highlighting both Henderson’s importance on the campaign trail and the depot’s role in making it accessible.

Case in point, when Franklin Roosevelt visited in 1932, the October 25^th edition of the Henderson Daily Dispatch reported:

“Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, Democratic Nominee for President of the United States, was greeted by a throng of citizens estimated to number approximately 5,000… The rear car of the train from which the nominee spoke, was stopped a few yards north of the Montgomery street crossing at the Seaboard Air Line main line tracks, at the freight and passenger stations…Governor Roosevelt said he was happy to “be at home again in Henderson,” for “Mr. Daniels has informed me that the city limits of your city extend for one thousand miles in every direction, which takes in my home town.”

That thousand-mile reach in either direction mentioned by Daniels and Roosevelt was thanks to the railways, and the Henderson Depot played a central role in their operations.