City Directories and History: 1905 – Blue Ridge Ry Co, J.R. Anderson supt, T.B. Lumpkin agt, supt’s office and passgr depot foot of W. Earle, freight depot N Fant and Railroad, also Dorr Henry W. (Anna) Dorr Meat Market @ B R Ry bey Bleckley, 1909 – Blue Ridge Ry Co, J.R. Anderson, supt; Bond Anderson, asst auditor, 119.5 West Earle; J. E. Forney, agt, 116 North Fant, also; FRANK & EVANS (John Frank and J.F. Evans), real estate and stock and bond brokers, 124.5 N Main, phone 246 FRANK JOHN (Lillie E.), Frank & Evans, r 424 West Whitner, also; Merchants’ Grocery Co, T.C. Jackson, v-prest ; W.R. Osborne, treas ; J.R. Sparks, mngr; wholesale grocers, 124 North Main Street, 1920 – Blue Ridge Railroad Freight Depot,
Also: Sparks J. Russell (Blanche), mngr Merchants Gro Co and Pepsi-Cola Botg Co, r 432 East Orr; Sparks Robt E., trav sales Merchants Gro Co, r 432 E Orr
Blue Ridge Railroad Passenger Station c. 1913
The Rock Hill Herald reported on March 14, 1903 – “W.B. Steele, Jr., who has been with the Southern Railroad at Rock Hill for a number of years has resigned his position and moved to Anderson, S.C. where he will be ticket agent for the Blue Ridge Railroad. His family will follow him soon.”
From the historical marker erected in 1976:
This building was erected as a passenger station of the Blue Ridge Railroad. It bridges the railroad cut under North Main Street which was excavated by the Blue Ridge Railroad Company as part of a project to build a line over the mountains to Knoxville, Tennessee, where it would connect with other railroads to the mid-west. The excavation work was done by Crawford Keys with the help of slave labor beginning in 1854. The project was abandoned in 1869, and the railroad was completed only as far as Walhalla. The Blue Ridge Passenger Station of later years was closed when passenger service was discontinued about 1945.
The railroad project referenced is the same that produced Stumphouse Tunnel north of Walhalla, South Carolina. Workers blasted over 1,000 feet into the side of Stumphouse Mountain only to run out money. The tunnel was one of thirteen planned tunnels of the railroad line, and is a popular tourist attraction.
Despite its prominence to Anderson’s development and the railroad, the passenger station was not included in the Anderson Downtown Historic District when it was listed in the National Register.
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