The actual name of this route was the Franklin & Pittsylvania Railroad. Between 1880-1932, it ran between Gretna and Rocky Mount in Virginia.
These stations are listed on a timetable printed in the Franklin Chronicle in 1915 (reproduced in Rocky Mount, Virginia Railroadin' Since 1880 and Dorothy Cundiff and A. D. Ramsey, "Old Franklin & Pittsylvania Railroad Is Loving Memory for Many: Ran from Gretna to Rocky Mount for a Half Century", Bicentennial Reflections, p60):
(Note the lack of a station at Hodgesville, between Redwood and Rocky Mount.)
The Union Hall Station was built in or about 1880. It has been named an Endangered Site by the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation. It also appears in a compilation by the Railroad Station Historical Society.
Location:
The depot is 60 feet wide and 20 feet deep. It stands on the south side of Old Franklin Turnpike (VA 40), a short distance east of the intersection with Kemp Ford Road (Route 945). Although a local resident indicates that this building was relocated 300 feet to the west on the same parcel, there seems barely enough land to allow such a move. As 1 pole = 16.5 feet, the length of the parcel, described as 23.32 poles, must have been 384.8 feet.
". . . at which the said Rail Road company proposes to build a depot beginning at a point in the center of the Louis Island road opposite a stake and a corner [?] to Mitchell and Ferguson thence with said road S 75º W 16.60 poles thence across the Rail Road N 30 3/4º W 12.24 poles to a stake and pile of stones thence N 61 3/4º E 19.56 poles to a stake and pile of stones thence across the Rail Road S 18 3/4º E 15.68 poles to the beginning containing (with right of way for the Rail Road which is half an acre) one and one half (1 1/2) acres . . ."
". . . in consideration of the sum of one dollar doth grant unto the said Franklin and Pittsylvania Rail Road Company the piece or parcel of land on which the said Rail Road company proposes to erect a Depot and such other buildings at Union Hall in Franklin County as it may think proper beginning at a stake in the bend of the Louis Island road, thence with the center of said road S 48º E 23.32 poles to a point in the centre of the road, opposite to a stake and pile of stones, thence across the Rail Road N 1 1/4º E 11.68 poles to a stake and pile of stones, thence N 48 W 23.32 poles to a point in the center of said road, opposite a stake and pile of stones, thence with said Louis Island road and across the Rail Road S 1 1/4º W 11.68 poles to the Beginning, containing (with the right of way inclusive which is seven tenths of an acre) 1 7/10 acres . . ."
". . . all that certain lot or parcel of land containing about three fourths of an acre, more or less, situate at Union Hall, and which was conveyed to the Franklin & Pittsylvania Railroad Company by deed bearing date February 11, 1880, . . . which deed is of record in the Clerks office of Franklin County, Virginia, kin [sic] Deed Book 33, page 615, which is situateon [sic] the south side of State Highway No. 40 as now located, and it is distinctly understood and agreed that only that portion of the station lot as embraced in said description which is south of said State Highway No. 40 is hereby conveyed and no other part of any lands conveyed t o [sic] the said railroad company is hereby conveyed.
"It is distinctly understood and agreed that all gasoline equipment, consisting of tanks, pumps and equipment used in the gasoline and oil business situate on the outside of the building is the property of the Texas Iil [sic] Company and the equipment situate in the inside of the building is theproperty [sic] of Mrs. Goldie Hodges."
": W I T N E S S E T H :
"THAT FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION of the sum of TEN ($10.00) DOLLARS, cash in hand paid, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, and for other good and valuable consideration, the said party of the first part does hereby bargain, sell, grant, deed and convey with Covenants of General Warranty of Title . . . all that certain lot, parcel and piece of land, lying and being in the Union Hall Magisterial District, Franklin County, Virginia, and more particularly described as being the Union Hall Depot building of the old F & P Railroad Company and described as follows:
"W I T N E S S E T H
"THAT FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION OF THE SUM OF TEN DOLLARS ($10.00), and other valuable considerations, cash in hand paid, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the said parties of the first part do hereby beg, bargain, sell, deed, grant and convey with Covenants of General Warranty of Title . . all that certain lot, parcel, and piece of land, lying and being in the Union Hall Magisterial District, Franklin County, Virginia, and more particularly described as being the Union Hall Depot building of the old F & P Railroad Company and described as follows:
"And being the same property conveyed to the parties of the first part by Deed dated April 16, 1974 . . . which Deed is of record in the Clerk's Office of the Circuit Court of Franklin County, Virginia, in Deed Book 296, at Page 730."
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Last revised: 5 March 2008