A little over a century ago – largely as a result of the American Centennial Exhibition in 1876 which reawakened the American people to its colonial past – there began a popular Colonial Revival craze in design and architecture. Colonial home plans follow the style of the Revolutionary War period, which in turn were imitative of the medieval English architectural style. This style is referred to as Georgian after the English King Georges who reigned from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, at the time when this building style emerged in both England and America. This style is formal, rigid, and symmetrical, but often with a façade above the door and overhead supported by columns or pillars. These structures are typically two-storied, rectangular or square in design, with the length of the building parallel to the street. Steep roofs with gables crown a symmetrical façade which has a large central doorway and evenly-spaced windows on either side. The central fireplace and chimney were necessary to provide heating and cooking facilities in the original colonial design. Usually the entranceway opens into a hall which leads from the front of the house to the back, and gives access to the downstairs rooms on either side. This basic plan can be and has been modified to incorporate decorative features such as elaborate front doors with crown pediment decoration, sidelights and overhead fanlights; side porches and sunrooms; and porches with multiple columns. Interior decoration ideally consists of actual colonial antiques and handiwork, or reproductions of same; and modern fixtures are designed to blend in with the eighteenth century style.
Since the nineteenth century craze there have been several waves of revival of English colonial architecture in the U.S. The original revival after 1876 favored the eclectic style with embellishments such as columns. However the modern colonial style relies more heavily on authenticity, in the mode of such research based historical attractions as Colonial Williamsburg. In the twentieth century colonial architecture has taken on an increasingly scholarly and less embellished turn, such as the elimination of columns. Today’s 4 bedroom space saving colonial house plans not only incorporate modern conveniences, but do so in a style more congruent with true colonial architectural style than the nineteenth century version. On the other hand, the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial celebration added another element to the craze, combining the basic colonial plan with the ranch style home design popular at the time. The result was typically a single-story white frame structure with wood shake roof and motifs such as drums, cannons, or eagles affixed to the façade. The past few years has seen another colonial revival in the U.S., this time with more of a British empire or Anglo-Caribbean feel to it. Note that colonial revival architecture has always been more popular in the eastern and Midwestern U.S. rather than California or the Southwest, where Spanish house plans are more congruent with local history and tastes than the Georgian prototype.
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In 1905 a meeting was of local citizens was held in Beaufort with Mayor William F. Dill presiding. A representative of the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad estimated a cost of $150,000 to link Morehead and Beaufort by rail. In addition to tracks and trestles, a causeway had to be constructed over the marshland. Then, in July of 1906 the town agreed to construction of a depot at the corner of Broad and Pollock Streets at a cost of $15,000.
On November 18, 1906, the first TRAIN backed into Beaufort. This line, Beaufort and Western Railroad (1905-1906), was acquired by Norfolk and Southern Railway in 1906.
On June 8, 1907, Beaufort launched "Gala Week." Banners and bunting were draped while residents and guests dressed in Sunday best attended a grand parade and speeches that launched the festivities, all celebrating Beaufort's new depot and the first train—coming into town engine first.
The Spanish Colonial Revival six-bay long and two-bay wide train station was built of frame construction with a steep hipped roof; eaves flared outward to create an overhang of about ten feet on all sides. It was covered with red tile shingles and supported by massive sawn brackets. Walls were built with a weatherboard wainscot with rough-textured stucco above. The building had Craftsman-style paired sash windows and a bay window on the Broad Street side, flanked by two entrances. The interior contained two separate waiting rooms.
Neal Willis, born in 1917, wrote in Beaufort by the Sea, Memories of a Lifetime, "It was quite an event when the trains came in each day. We would go down to Railroad Street (Broad Street) and count the cars and wave at the passengers. The Depot had white and colored sections. In between was the ticket office. On the west side was the freight room. Mr. Seth Gibbs was the stationmaster. Mr. Webb was the ticket agent and telegrapher.”
The depot was full of activity for thirty years; the train not only provided easier transportation to and from Beaufort, it also brought a new economy, enabling local citizens to more easily ship seafood and other goods.
By 1938, passenger service ceased when the line between Morehead City and Beaufort was acquired by the Beaufort and Morehead Railroad.
Owners of the depot were persuaded to sell the vacant passenger-train depot to the Town of Beaufort to use as its library. The 2,570 square foot building required considerable refurbishing. The Beaufort Woman’s Club, under the leadership of Mrs. W. L. Woodard, came to the rescue raising funds for the work. In December 1940 the library moved into the depot and was located there into the 1960s when the leaking roof, termites and the old pot-belly stove provided an inadequate location for a proper library.
Though there was no passenger depot, the railroad line continued to operate as “The Route of the Jets” between Beaufort and Morehead City into the 1980s. The railroad drawbridge over the Beaufort Channel at the foot of Broad Street was demolished in the mid-1990s; the removal of the tracks down the middle of Broad Street began in 1994.
In 1996 the Beaufort Woman’s Club joined with the Town of Beaufort to thoroughly and beautifully restore the 1907 Train Depot. With its period displays of early-20th century railroad memorabilia and old photographs, the depot remains a symbol and a reminder of the train bringing the outside world to Beaufort. The historic building now functions as an annex to the Beaufort Town Hall, located at the rear on Pollock Street. It is used for town meetings and special events.
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