Hinton Rail Station

The Hinton Station was built for the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) in 1905 as a division terminal. The station and tracks lie along a bend in the New River. In a quirk of engineering the eastbound trains pass Southwest through the station and westbound trains pass Northeast. The otherwise two-story depot has a middle section that stands at three stories and is built entirely from red brick with a rock-faced stone belt course. ---greatAmericanstations.com.

Hinton and the C&O Railroad became an important migration corridor for thousands of African Americans for nearly 60 years, 1870-1930. African Americans traveled to West Virginia through major centers like Hinton. Beginning in 1869, African Americans poured into the state to fill thousands of jobs building the C&O Railway.

Hinton became an integral stop for African American men and their families who came to fill hundreds of jobs in the coal mines. Although some remained in Hinton to work for the railroad, some became businessmen, teachers and ministers, but the majority went on to new jobs and new lives in the coalfields. ---nps.gov

Currently, the station is largely unoccupied except for an Amtrak waiting room opened and closed by a caretaker. Along the hillside bordering the platform, a neighbor maintains a lush garden for the enjoyment of rail passengers. ---greatAmericanstations.com

The depot, which is located in the Hinton National Register Historic District, suffered a great deal of smoke damage when a fire tore through it in December, 2007. However, the building reopened only a short time later, having been stabilized and repaired. Currently, the station is undergoing a $1.5 million series of phased repairs and renovations funded through a federal Transportation Enhancement grant with matches from the city. Work in the early phases included installation of a new slate roof, re-painting of the brickwork and repairs to the windows and decorative woodwork. A new concrete platform with tactile edging was also installed. The last part of the project is focused on rehabilitating the interior space for commercial use to possibly include a restaurant. ---greatAmericanstations.com