THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505120683
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
There was a time when you could arise at dawn, walk to Suffolk's Seaboard Train Station and catch The Orange Blossom Special to Miami.
There was a time when Suffolk was served by five rail lines, three passenger stations, and was such a coveted rail hub that the Union Army captured the town during the Civil War, took over the rails and held the clerk of courts hostage in order to keep the townsfolk quiet.
Today, one of the passenger stations serves as a yard office for Norfolk Southern. A second station has been razed. The third station is the charm - a burned-out but beautiful turreted building near the heart of downtown.
Now, members of the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society and the Downtown Suffolk Association have combined forces to create S.O.S. - the Save Our Station Committee. They will hold a fund-raiser Saturday to pay for renovations at the station, which saw its last passenger train depart in 1968.
``I just think it's what we're all about,'' said Betsy Brothers, a member of the historical society. ``It tells us who Suffolk is - or who Suffolk was.''
The station has had a rough go of it. After being abandoned years ago, it was severely damaged in November by fire.
Owner CSX was going to raze the building but sold the building and adjacent property to the Downtown Suffolk Association for less than $7,500. No one is willing to disclose the exact price.
Renovating the building is estimated to cost between $250,000 and $400,000. S.O.S. members hope most of that will come from a federal transportation grant, which should be awarded next week.
A donation of $80,000 is required for the grant, and the city of Suffolk has promised $40,000. Saturday is the group's first opportunity to gather the rest.
Suffolk is a town rich in history. But thus far, little has been done by to preserve its historical past. The renovation of Riddick's Folly in 1979 is the last time that an historical public building was renovated in Suffolk, according to Councilman Thomas G. Underwood, who grew up around the Seaboard Station.
In 1962, the city demolished the City Market building, which served as both a city hall and a town market place in the heart of downtown. The grand Victorian building had a ballroom as well as a open ground-floor marketplace replete with stalls for the merchants. After it was razed, a department store was put in its place.
Now, a group of interested people is forming a preservation society. The city is also getting into the act with plans to renovate and move city offices into the old Suffolk High School, which has been closed since 1990.
And on Saturday, a plywood wall surrounding the historical and dilapidated Prentis House will be painted with a mural depicting historical buildings in Suffolk.
``We're really 30 years late,'' said Brothers. ``But why give up just because we've missed part of it? We're not going to give up down here. We've got a lot to offer.''
The Seaboard Station was first built in 1834 and underwent extensive renovations and rebuilding up until 1910.
As was the custom, it was a station with two waiting rooms - one for white and one for black patrons. Tin work on the side of the building contains pictures of bells. The turret on the building's north end was used as a telegraph office as well as a post to watch for oncoming trains. When the train was spotted, the station master would run down a spiral staircase and close the crossing gates on North Main Street by hand.
Today the station sits alone by a local fish market, its slate roof in desperate need of repair. Freight trains still use the adjacent track.
But S.O.S. members hope that, once the necessary renovations are made, the station can serve as a visitors' center for the city, which has long wanted to attract tourists to downtown Suffolk. For them, this could be the start of something big.
There have been past efforts to save Suffolk's historical past but Brothers said they did not survive, mainly because the efforts lost steam. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MICHAEL KESTNER/Staff
Key figures in the Save Our Station program: Patsy Privott, left;
Sue Woodward; and Betsy Brothers. The program seeks to raise funds
for the renovation of a railroad station in downtown Suffolk, which
saw its last passenger train depart in 1968.
Graphic
S.O.S. FUND-RAISER
The Save Our Station fund-raiser will take place from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. Saturday at the station, which is on North Main Street next
to Leggett's Seafood.
Food, kids' train rides, horse and carriage tours, and other
activities are planned.
For details, call the Suffolk-Nansemond Historical Society at
539-6312 or the Downtown Suffolk Association at 539-3592.
by CNB