Magnolia Street Train Depot

History

By the turn of the 20th century, Spartanburg, SC had become a crossroad of various raliroads, with over 90 trains stopping or coming through the city on a daily basis. The sheer number of trains coming through Spartanburg allowed the city to be nicknamed "The Hub City."

The Magnolia Street Train Depot was built in 1904 by the Southern Railway Company, later to be used by the Clinchfield Railroad and the Charleston & Western Carolina Railway.

Restoration

As the railroad industry declined, so did the state of the Magnolia Street Train Depot. Two of its buildings were torn down, leaving only one left. Years of decay left the last building in a poor state, and in 1996 the train depot was damaged by fire. After the fire, a 16 year old high school boy named Trey Davis III began an initiative to save the old train station. Through volunteer efforts the station was saved from being torn down, was moved a block down the tracks, and was restored. The station is now the home of an Amtrak station as well as the Spartanburg Convention Center and Visitors Bureau.