Date:  ca. 1914

Image Number:  Roll4Neg9A

Comments:  The James River Division of the Chesapeake and Ohio (previously property of the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad Company), was of great importance to Scottsville as it hauled freight, passengers, and the daily mail to town.  As did the James River and Kanawha Canal before it, the C & O train connected Scottsville to the commercial centers of Richmond and Lynchburg.  A purely Scottsville amusement in the early 1900's was watching the train go by.   As shown here, it was common to see a good-sized group of townsfolk strolling down to the depot with Postmaster Gault to meet the Number 11 from Richmond and pick up the day's mail.

Following is a guide to the names of these town citizens waiting on the platform at Scottsville Depot and keyed to the image numbers below:
(1)  Mr. Mawyer; (2)  Matt Maseley; (3)  Howard Robinson;
(4)  Thomas Staples; (5)  Sam Bragg; (6)  Wilkes Dameron;
(7)  Willie Beal; (8)  Billy Londeree; (9)  John Davis;
(10)  Emmett Carter;   (11)  Forrest Paulett; (12)  James Londeree;
(13)  Walter White; (14)  Jim Poe.

The station is located on land that was originally owned by the James River and Kanawha Canal Company from the late 1830's to 1880 when the company and its property were bought by the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad Company.  In 1881, the canal bed was drained and railroad tracks laid on the towpath.  In 1890, the Richmond and Allegheny and its property were bought by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company.  This frame depot stood on this site until the present brick station was built in 1915.

As people began driving their own cars and, later, traveling by busses and airplanes, Scottsville's use of the railroad as a mode of personal transportation dwindled.  The last C&O passenger train from Richmond to Lynchburg (and beyond) stopped in Scottsville in 1956, and the station was closed in August 1977.  The building was then used several times weekly by freight and maintenance staff and for equipment storage.  A mobile agent, however, served the area's freight needs.  In 2010, the Scottsville Depot is owned by CSX Corporation and in quite a dilapidated condition.