A Peek into Summers County’s Past: The Hinton Depots

HINTON W.Va. (Hinton News) - When you think of the two commercial buildings in Hinton that make Hinton “Hinton,” you instantly think of the McCreery Hotel and the C&O Depot. Few people alive today know that the current depot is not the original building.

There have been four depots in Hinton throughout the years since the railroad first cut through the town. I have never found any information about the first two, other than the occasional reference to the fact that there have been four.

The current depot was constructed in 1913 to replace the third building which was constructed in 1891. It can be seen in the large photo of the brick depot with a slate roof. It was a very ornate and stately complex. This design is representative of the railroad having such a powerful hand in the booming economy that built up the town of Hinton back in the day.

This is the only photograph I have ever seen of the depot that preceded the current one. I recently acquired it from a fellow Summers County historian. It has the name “J. R. Shelkett Photographer” as the one that had taken this rare photo. It also has the location of his studio as “220 1-2 Third Avenue Hinton, West, VA.” It sadly has some water damage on the bottom left corner.  But this photo is such a rare piece of Summers County I just had to share it.

The “new” depot was constructed following the fire and was built around the style of the 1902 addition to the east. This part of the building survived the fire and can be seen on the right side of Shelkett's photograph.

The current depot is the only passenger depot in Summers County. The next closest one is in Alderson. When the railroad was still going strong, this structure was the location for many depot operations of that time. Such as purchasing and dispensing tickets. Passenger baggage.
It was the location of C&O offices for this section of their line. It housed the C&O Lunch Stand and the Adam Express, which was renamed Railway Express Agency.

The main lobby has been restored and is open to the general public. Amtrack is now the only passenger train service that services this area. I remember being nine years old and riding Amtrack with my mother to Charleston, West Virginia, one Christmas to visit my grandmother.

I loved the experience, especially how much more you can see while sitting in the observation car. I did end up being terrified at one point. My mother, who had ridden trains numerous times, got up from her seat to stretch her legs. This instance was my first time riding a train, and here I was sitting by myself when it suddenly went pitch dark. We had gone through a tunnel, and Mom forgot to tell me what was about to happen. She was only feet away, I should add. As “traumatic” as this was to a child, I still want to ride it again one day. Ha

The first depot was located at the bottom of 3rd Avenue. It was a small wooden structure that was soon overrun by the rail traffic to and from Hinton, I can assume that the 2nd one was moved to where the 1891 one burned, and the current one now stands.

Notice the 1913 postcard of the 1891 depot after the fire had destroyed the west end and middle of it. You can see the east end section that was saved, restored and expanded on. I have had this in my collection since I was a child. One of my hobbies was going through old postcards in stores, yard sales and auctions. So, I must have picked it up at one of the three. But I never knew it was actually the depot in Hinton until I received the photo of the 1891 depot recently.

If you have a story from Summers County's past to share, send an email to news@hintonnews.com.

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