Goldsboro Union Station Explained

Goldsboro Union Station
Address:101 North Carolina Street
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Country:United States
Coordinates:35.3847°N -78.0042°W
Line:W&W Subdivision
Platforms:1 side platform (abandoned)
Structure:At-grade
Parking:87 spaces
Architect:Leitner & Wilkins
Architectural Style:Eclectic
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Mapframe:yes
Nrhp:
Embed:yes
Designation1:NRHP
Designation1 Date:April 13, 1977
Designation1 Number:77001015

The Goldsboro Union Station is a former passenger train depot and future intermodal transit station in Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States. Originally operating from 1909 to 1968, the Eclectic two-story brick depot was preserved as one of the most ambitious railroad structures in North Carolina, built as a symbol of the importance of railroading to Goldsboro. Currently closed-off for future renovations, the 5acres facility also includes the GWTA Bus Transfer Center.

Location

The station is located four blocks west, or 700yards, from Downtown Goldsboro's Center Street, via Walnut or Mulberry streets which had been the location of the original Union Depot. Covering two full blocks, the 5acres facility is bounded by CSX tracks along with Chestnut, Mulberry, and Carolina streets. Surrounded by residential, some of the immediate properties are zoned as general business, but are not occupied.

History

On March 2, 1906, the Goldsboro Union Station Company was chartered to build a new station, which was to be a union of passenger rail services from Atlantic and North Carolina, Atlantic Coast Line (ACL), and Southern railroads. Formerly, all three railroads had their own separate freight operations immediately north of downtown with a small Union Depot in the middle of downtown. The site selected was at the foot of Walnut Street on a spur line that bypassed west of downtown. Construction began in August 1907 and was completed in June 1909, at a cost $72,024. The architectural design is credited to J.F. Leitner's firm, Leitner & Wilkins. It is a two-story brick building, seven bays wide and two bays deep, with a hip roof, flanked by one-story gabled brick wings. It features a three-story central tower and one-story front and rear porches.[1]

The ACL operated trains on the former Wilmington and Weldon Railroad between Wilmington (the original headquarters of the ACL) and a point near Wilson, where a connection was made to the RichmondFlorida main line. The Southern Railway operated passenger trains such as the northern branch of the Cincinnati-bound Carolina Special from Goldsboro through Raleigh and Durham to Greensboro.[2] Into the early 1950s the Atlantic and East Carolina Railway ran a daily passenger train from Goldsboro, North Carolina southeast to Morehead City on the Crystal Coast.[3] [4] The last passenger train to use Goldsboro Union Station was discontinued in 1968. That train was a Rocky Mount station - Wilmington Union Station Seaboard Coast Line route that originated in connection with the Champion southbound, and the Palmetto northbound.[5]

Goldsboro Union Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, by that time the property changed hands several times and was currently owned by Goldsboro Builders Supply.

On August 17, 2007, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced that it had purchased the facility and adjoining acreage to preserve and adaptively reuse as a modern multimodel center. After providing stabilization of the historic building, NCDOT passed ownership to the City of Goldsboro in December 2008.[6] [7] [8]

In August 2014, construction began on the Gateway Transfer Center, a bus station located north-end of the property. It was opened in September 2015 and was renamed the GWTA Bus Transfer Center.[9] [10]

GWTA Bus Transfer Center

GWTA Bus Transfer Center
Address:103 North Carolina Street
Goldsboro, North Carolina
Country:United States
Coordinates:35.3858°N -78.0034°W
Owned:City of Goldsboro
Bus Stands:9
Bus Operators: GWTA
Connections: Amtrak Thruway
Structure:At-grade
Accessible:Yes

The GWTA Bus Transfer Center is a bus station located at Goldsboro Union Station and serves as a bus terminus for the Goldsboro–Wayne Transportation Authority (GWTA) and provides intercity bus service via Amtrak Thruway.[10]

Services

The facility includes a building with tickets/information, restrooms, waiting area, nine bus bays, and parking for 18 GWTA vans. Free same-day parking is located on the south-end of the Goldsboro Union Station property.[9]

GWTA operates the following routes from the Transfer Center:

Amtrak Thruway service connects with the and, via Wilson station; Bus #6190 departs at 12:24pm and Bus #6189 arrives at 3:40pm.[17]

References

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Goldsboro Union Station. National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. n.d.. pdf. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. July 1, 2015.
  2. Web site: Southern Railway timetable, July 30, 1952, Tables K, 1B, 1C, 5B . May 7, 2022.
  3. Atlantic and East Carolina Railway . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 82 . 8 . January 1950.
  4. Freight onlyAtlantic and East Carolina Railway . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 84 . 7 . December 1951.
  5. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, Table 9 . Official Guide of the Railways . National Railway Publication Company . 100 . 5 . October 1967.
  6. Web site: Future Service. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20080802004336/http://www.bytrain.org/future/. August 2, 2008. North Carolina Department of Transportation, Rail Division. August 14, 2008.
  7. NCDOT PURCHASES GOLDSBORO’S UNION PASSENGER STATION . North Carolina Department of Transportation, Rail Division . August 17, 2007 . August 14, 2008 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080815152048/http://www.bytrain.org/redbarinfo/news/2007releases/goldsboro07.html . August 15, 2008.
  8. Web site: Goldsboro Union Station . City of Goldsboro . May 8, 2022.
  9. City of Goldsboro . July 21, 2015 . Goldsboro Wayne Transfer Center Update 3 . YouTube . May 7, 2022.
  10. Web site: Gateway Transfer Center . City of Goldsboro . May 7, 2022.
  11. Web site: GWTA Purple Route . January 1, 2022 . Goldsboro–Wayne Transportation Authority . May 7, 2022.
  12. Web site: GWTA Yellow Route . January 1, 2022 . Goldsboro–Wayne Transportation Authority . May 7, 2022.
  13. Web site: GWTA Blue Route . January 1, 2022 . Goldsboro–Wayne Transportation Authority . May 7, 2022.
  14. Web site: GWTA Green Route . January 1, 2022 . Goldsboro–Wayne Transportation Authority . May 7, 2022.
  15. Web site: GWTA Red Route . January 1, 2022 . Goldsboro–Wayne Transportation Authority . May 7, 2022.
  16. Web site: Mount Oliver Connector & Circulator . April 1, 2021 . Goldsboro–Wayne Transportation Authority . May 7, 2022.
  17. Web site: Vacations in North Carolina by Train & Thruway Bus . . May 7, 2022.