Historic Burgaw Train Depot

Description

The Burgaw Depot is the oldest railroad depot in North Carolina, a designation the NC Division of Archives and History made in 1986. State historians date the original warehouse section to about 1850. Passenger waiting rooms followed in 1898 and the freight platform was expanded in 1916. The building anchors downtown Burgaw and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Civil War Discovery Trails.

The Civil War history here is unusually direct. The interior still carries charred scars from an 1863 Union cavalry raid. After Fort Fisher fell in 1865 the depot served as Confederate headquarters, and that February it held more than 6,000 prisoners of war for over a week.

A 2009 renovation turned the building into a banquet hall, conference room, shared-use commercial kitchen, and a transportation museum archived and curated by the Historic Depot Foundation. The Burgaw Area Chamber of Commerce keeps offices here as well.

Plan ahead, because this is not a walk-in museum. The town describes hours as limited and asks visitors to call Burgaw Parks & Recreation at 910-300-6401 to schedule a visit. The building also rents for private events, so the interior may be booked. The exterior, the wide freight dock, and the surrounding historic district are visible any time on a downtown walk.