Bristol Union Railway Station

K-124

The Rev. James King donated land for railroad facilities here in 1848, before the town of Bristol took root early in the 1850s. The first passenger train arrived on 1 Oct. 1856 on the railroad later known as the Norfolk and Western (N&W). In 1858, the line later known as the Southern Railway was completed from here to Knoxville, TN. Bristol became a manufacturing and commercial center. The N&W built the present station, the fourth on this lot, in 1902-1903. It served both railroads until passenger and postal service ended by 1971. The station, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, is among the last of its era on the original N&W line.

Department of Historic Resources, 2018

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Richmond Daily Dispatch, 4, 6 Oct. 1856, 5, 27 June 1857, 5 June 1858, 8 July 1902. Alexandria Gazette, 16 Dec. 1853, 7 Aug. 1913. Union City (TN) Commercial, 26 Dec. 1902. Highland Recorder, 27 Feb., 24 April 1903. Baltimore Sun, 18 Feb. 1904. Richmond Times-Dispatch, 18 Feb. 1904. New York Tribune, 7 July 1908. “Official Guide, Norfolk and Western Railway Co., Industrial Shippers and Builders” (1905). Bristol Union Railway Station National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 1980. Robert S. Loving, Double Destiny: The Story of Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia (Bristol, TN: King Printing, 1955). James William Hagy, History of Washington County Virginia to 1865 (Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 2013). Frank Brown, “Bristol’s Union Station Gets New Lease on Life,” Norfolk and Western Magazine (April 1981). Bristol Trainstation Foundation, “History of the Bristol Trainstation,” www.sullivan-county.com/news/ts/history.htm