Stanly County, North Carolina, and it's Railroads
Richfield's Depot
1996 -- Background: In the town of Richfield, population of approximately 500, sits a rather rare, and in my opinion at least, a very valuable historical artifact. Richfield never was a big town, but it was the center of the farming area of northern Stanly County. As such, the decision to build the Yadkin Railroad thru Richfield certainly helped the prosperity in the region. Because of the railroad, the farmers had an "export" market for their crops, and could also "import" seeds, fertilizers and equipment inexpensively.
The long-term history of the depot will be written when I get some more facts concerning the building itself, but there have been some recent actions which should be of interest to those interested in Stanly County history, Norfolk Southern Corporation history, railroad structures, and the changing scene of small town America.
My wife and I moved to Stanly County from St. Louis, Missouri, in May of 1995. Being a train freak, I quickly acquainted myself with the rail lines, operations, and structures in the county. There were only two stations left in the county. The Winston-Salem Southbound Railway station in Albemarle was not only intact, but a campaign was underway to preserve the station. I'll write more on that later. However, at least in my humble opinion, the far more historically significant little branch line depot in Richfield seemed to be invisible to the good folks of the county. This building, perhaps more typical of the branch line stations in Nebraska and Kansas, was wooden, intact, and charming. It was also a building waiting to be bulldozed into oblivion, burned down, or vandalized beyond repair. Additionally, it was understandably becoming rather run-down.
Not being a preservationist, per se, I really had no desire to get embroiled in any effort to save the depot in Richfield. However, in March of 1996, I took a part-time job up in Richfield (18 miles from Frog Pond), and drove by the depot twice a day, four times a week. As the months went by, I got more and more concerned about the little building in Richfield. In December, 1996, I wrote to the Albemarle--Stanly County Historic Preservation Commission, and asked that they get involved in an effort to save the Richfield Depot.
In January, 1997, Patricia Pond, the Director of the Commission, wrote to inform me that her Board had decided they had too much going on, and that to take up the issue of the Richfield Depot was too much for them. This was probably not a cop-out, as the efforts to preserve and develop the WSSB Albemarle depot were in full swing at that time, and represented a most time- and resource-consuming effort.
In mid-February, after several exploratory phone calls, I sent an e-mail to a communications manager for the Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC), asking for info about how to get the depot from NSC's ownership to some other activity. The manager gave me a name and address to contact in Charlotte.
In mid-March, I got a reply from Steven McCurdy, who is involved with NSC-owned real estate in our part of North Carolina. He informed me that other folks were interested in the structure, and that he would be communicating with "each party." After getting this information, I contacted Terry Almond, who was the interim mayor of Richfield. We both felt that the depot would be a terrific addition to the Richfield Park, and that there were several sites in the park for the building. He allowed me to write to Mr. McCurdy on behalf of the town of Richfield, which I did on April 2, 1997. I informed Mr. McCurdy that the town was most interested in saving the depot.
Between April and August, 1997, I initiated a series of phone calls between myself and Mr. McCurdy. Eventually, he informed me that NSC was "going to do something" with the Richfield Depot, and he referred me to a senior real property manager in Roanoke, a Ms. Sandy Reynolds. Ms. Reynolds was, understandably, very involved in working thru the complexities of the Conrail acquisition, and the little depot in Richfield was hardly on her radar screen! She abruptly informed me, during the week of 11 Aug 97, that she was moving ahead with the sale of the Richfield depot, and wanted a bid from the town of Richfield immediately. She said I could get it to her by 22Aug 97.
On 22 Aug 97, I, on behalf of the town of Richfield, and after getting the OK from Terry Almond, offered $150.00 for the depot building. We asked for 90 days from the closing date to move the building.
Several weeks after submitting the bid, Ms Reynolds of NSC called me and told me that another bidder had bid substantially more that my bid on behalf of the town of Richfield. She wanted us to increase our bid. I told her, in view of the rather major moving and renovation expenses, our bid seemed quite reasonable to me. [Let me be honest here: I really felt like telling her that NSC should pay us to get a headache off its hands!] Subsequently, she awarded the depot to another party. About two weeks after she called me, I called her and asked if she felt the buyer was just going to tear the building down for lumber, use it for storage, or whatever. She assured me that the buyer seemed to be interested in preservation.
That was in September of 1997. On April 21, 1998, on my way to eat lunch under a big post oak tree, I noticed activity around the little depot. I went down and introduced myself to the new owner, who was overseeing preparations for moving the building to a property he owns in the Richfield area. Here are three views of the depot being prepared for movement:
Oh, happy day! On April 27, 1998, while on my way to work, I noticed the station was on a flatbed, and I took a photo. Later, on my way home to Frog Pond, I got held up by a railroad station in the road! Here's a photo of the movement. By sheer dumb luck, I drove west on the Millingport Road at the precise time that the move was underway, so I followed the station until the flatbed truck took a left off into a field of Kentucky fescue. The station is barely visible from the road, but I think we've been lucky that the building is now in the hands of someone who is willing to commit to saving the structure. He bought the building and paid to have it moved--all out of his own pocket.
If you wish to see the depot, call Sun Realty in Albemarle, and ask for the fellow who owns the Richfield depot. The folks in the office will get you in touch with the owner. The number is (704) 982-0800.
I revisited the building in the Spring of 2007. The owner has replaced the roof, which is very good news, indeed.
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Last updated: July, 2002. Format and content.