Having rail service facilitated the increase in industry in Davidson, including the organization of the Linden Mill and the Delburg Mill. In 1907 the North Carolina legislature ruled that public transportation should be segregated, and African Americans were consigned to a car right behind the engine, where smoke often engulfed the passengers. The receivers operated the railway until 1894, when it was acquired by the Southern Railway Company. That year the company leased the line to the Charlotte, Columbia, and Augusta Railroad, which was taken over by the Richmond and Danville Railroad until it went into receivership in 1892. The AT&O continued to operate the line until 1881. Train Schedule to and from Davidson, 1904. On special occasions like commencement, extra trains were added to bring families and spectators to town. In a sparsely settled part of the state, with a burgeoning college, trains were an important way for both local residents and Davidson College students to get to and from town. However, the route never extended into Tennessee as planned. The first train ran on the new line in 1871, an event welcomed cheering crowds. In 1863, however, the Confederate government took up the tracks and rails to be used in the construction of the Piedmont Railroad from Greensboro to Danville, Virginia.įortunately for Davidson, in 1869 the state of North Carolina issued bonds to help rebuild the tracks between Charlotte and Statesville. By 1860 the tracks were completed between Charlotte and Statesville, allowing passengers to connect with trains for other locations. The AT&O was incorporated in Tennessee in 1852 and in North Carolina in 1855, with the intention of connecting Charlotte to the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad near Jonesboro, Tennessee. In the early 1860s the railroad, in the form of the Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio Railroad (AT&O) arrived in Davidson. Passengers waiting for the train at the depot in the early 20th century (photo courtesy of Davidson College Archives)
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