Seaboard Coastline Building, also known as Old City Hall, is a historic train station located at Portsmouth, Virginia. The original section was built in 1894-1895 by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. It is a six-story brick and concrete structure, with the 4th and 5th floors added in 1914. The front facade features a distinctive half-round or semicylindrical profile intended to recall the imagery of the streamlined locomotives of the late-19th century. The building served as the northern terminus and office headquarters of the Seaboard Air Line until 1958.
Passenger train terminal
The station served multiple passenger trains daily. One train was the Portsmouth section of the SAL's full service Silver Comet, bound for Raleigh, North Carolina, Athens and Atlanta in Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama. Another train, #3-11 southbound/#6-10 northbound, was a coach-only train to Atlanta, making local stops along the way.2 The Silver Comet had its last trip into the station in 1968, when the SAL's successor, the merged Seaboard Coast Line, terminated passenger service on the branch leading into Portsmouth.34
Use in recent years
After the building was used for railroad purposes, it was used as the municipal building until 1980.5 It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.6
| Preceding station | Seaboard Air Line Railroad | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purvistoward Norlina | Norlina-Portsmouth | Terminus | ||
References
Douglas J. Harnsberger (July 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Seaboard Coastline Building" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Portsmouth/124-0053_Seaboard_Coastline_Building_1985_Final_Nomination.pdf ↩
"Seaboard Air Line Railroad, Tables 1, 27". Official Guide of the Railways. 82 (8). National Railway Publication Company. August 1949. ↩
Seaboard Air Line timetable, December 15, 1967, Table 21 -in service ↩
"Seaboard Air Line Railroad [dropped from schedule]". Official Guide of the Railways. 101 (1). National Railway Publication Company. June 1968. ↩
Douglas J. Harnsberger (July 1985). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Seaboard Coastline Building" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/Portsmouth/124-0053_Seaboard_Coastline_Building_1985_Final_Nomination.pdf ↩
"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP ↩