Ashland-Hanover Visitors Centre & Train Station and other Ashland, VA Things to Do Tips

I have this as a transportation tip, but it is much more than just a train station. The Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad built the station in 1923. The same guy who designed some of the houses along Monument Avenue designed this train station. Its divided floor plan had separate waiting areas and ticket windows for whites and blacks. Two of the station's original benches are on display here. A third is on display in the Smithsonian which uses this station as an example of how we tried to be separate but equal. Ashland and Hanover County use this historic train station as a visitor's centre. The staff here was very helpful to Christian and me in planning our tour around Ashland, including where to go for refreshments after a long walking tour.

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Phone: (800) 897-1479
Address: 112 North Railroad Avenue, Ashland, VA 23005

Stroll along Center Street and admire the old houses like these:

1. The 1886 Queen Anne home has a wraparound porch, onion top turret, several balconies, and different shapes of shingle siding. With its light purple paint job, it looks like a giant easter egg to me.

2. The house was built in the 1850s with a later Italianate addition in the side. The owner designed the addition with a higher first-floor ceiling to provide better acoustics for his daughter's singing voice.

3. The house was also built in the 1850s with renovations made in the 1870s. The house was owned by a former girlfriend of Edgar Allen Poe.

4. The classical revival house was built in the early 1900s. It was once the home of Louis "Shirt" Blanton, Jr. who was shot in 1955 and left paralysed by a robber. From his wheelchair, he became a familiar figure waving to rail passengers and telling the RF & P of potential mechanical problems. As a result, the railroard company wired his house with buzzers, alerting him of approaching trains. On holidays, railroad personnel bringing gifts would stop in front of his house to thank Shirt.

A railroad track runs slap up the middle of the street. Folks who live there must be used to trains rumbling through at all hours.

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Stroll along the other side of Center Street and see homes like these:

1. Telcourt was built in 1902 and was transported here from the business district in 1996! They removed the third floor when they moved it and the two pieces were transported south on Washington Highway late at night and many locals. Put back together in its new location, it blends in well with the rest of the historic homes along here. Its bright yellow paint job somehow made me want lemon ice cream.

2. This Greek Revival house was built in 1858. Located near a race course where Confederate soldiers were being trained, the Macmurdos held balls for townsfolk and troops. Mr. Macmurdo was treasurer for the railroad company. Confederate General Stonewall Jackson rested here one night before the Seven-Days Battle in 1862.

3. This unique house was built in 1909. It served as a fellowship hall for the St.James the Less Episcopal Church. In 1958, the parish had the church building demolished, moving the congregation to a larger church away from the rumble and the roar of the trains.

4. They used the outside of this house filming the movie Major Payne. It had to be made to look like it was damaged and abandoned for the movie. Neighbours thought the house had caught fire, so they brought food to console the family.

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Randolph-Macon College is the oldest Methodist college in the United States. It was founded in 1830 in Boydton and moved here shortly after the War Between the States.

Take a look at some of the historic buildings like these on the Randolph Macon College campus.

1.Built in 1872, Washington & Franklin Hall is the oldest building on campus and was originally the centre of intellectual life. It currently houses the Randolph-Macon College history department. It is a registered national historical landmark.

2. Built in 1879, this building originally housed the student chapel on the first floor and the town's Duncan Memorial Methodist Church on the second. Today, the old chapel is home to the Randolph-Macon College drama, music, and art history departments. This, too, is a registered national historic landmark.

3.The Pace-Armistead Building contains classrooms, labs, offices of Randolph-Macon's studio arts programme. The Flippo Gallery, open to the public, displays student art and holds special exhibitions by nationally known artists.

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