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The Bealeton Depot

Long-awaited renovations to the Bealeton depot began in November, 2009. Fauquier County received notification in October 2009 that construction could begin on the Bealeton Station depot, part of the county’s Bealeton Library complex at 10877 Willow Drive North.  Once completed, the depot will be used as a library program room and community meeting space. 

Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner David S. Ekern authorized the initiation of the construction phase of the project after several prolonged delays as the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Department of Historic Resources, and Fauquier County worked to preserve the historical integrity of the depot while meeting Transportation Enhancement Act for the Twenty-First Century (TEA 21) guidelines. TEA 21 grants account for much of the funding. Generous donations from local businesses and the developer make up the balance.

Total Construction Management of Manassas Park, Virginia has been selected as the construction firm for the project. The contract amount is $228,295. John Milner Associates (JMA), a design firm dedicated to historic preservation and cultural resources management, provided the construction drawings and specifications for the renovation.JMA clients include such notable projects as work on the Washington Monument, the Grand Canyon National Park, Stratford Hall Plantation, and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Depot History

The depot, which has approximately 800 square feet of space, was built by Southern Railway Company in 1905 and used by the railroad until the 1950s. Once located on the primary rail route that connected Fauquier County with Washington, D.C., it was moved to its present location, land that had been donated to the county for a new library in 2002. Bealeton Landmarks, the group that developed the Bealeton Station subdivision, was interested in preserving the history of the area and hoped the depot would be incorporated into the library project. The company replaced the depot roof using the original design and made a number of structural repairs after the building was moved.

The Bealeton Library, once located in a Village Center storefront, opened the doors to its new home at Station and Willow drives in December 2003. The building’s designers, the Lukmire Partnership in Arlington, took design cues for the new library from the depot’s architecture.

During its transportation heyday, many travelers passed through the Bealeton Station depot on the way to the nation’s capitol. The depot received much needed goods and supplies and was an important hub for shipping locally grown and produced agricultural products to markets.

Constructed in 1905 by J.D. Elliott of Hickory, North Carolina, the Bealeton Station Depot was a fine example of early 20th century construction. The exterior was sheathed in rustic tongue-and-groove weatherboard and overhang brackets were mortise and pin joints with chamfered edges. Fine Georgia heart pine flooring covered the office and the waiting and trainmen’s rooms. Gothic-style tin shingles adorned the roof and eyebrows.

The development of Route 17 and a bridge over the rail tracks brought changes to Bealeton’s transportation center in 1948 and 1949. Primary access to the depot was lost and, with the decline of rail service, the depot was decommissioned.