The Herndon Depot Museum, also known as the Herndon Historical Society Museum, is located in the town of Herndon

Herndon, Virginia

Herndon is a town in Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area of the United States. The population was 21,655 at the 2000 census, which makes it the largest of three towns in the county.-History:...

 in Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

. Built in 1857 for the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad, the depot

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

 later served the Richmond and Danville Railroad

Richmond and Danville Railroad

The Richmond and Danville Railroad was chartered in Virginia in the United States in 1847. The portion between Richmond and Danville, Virginia was completed in 1856...

, the Southern Railway and the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad

Washington and Old Dominion Railroad

The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia. Its oldest line extended from Alexandria on the Potomac River northwest to Bluemont at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Snickers Gap, not far from the boundary line between...

. The structure is located at 717 Lynn Street, at the intersection of the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail

Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park

The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park is a popular and unusually-shaped regional park in Northern Virginia. The park's primary feature is the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail , an asphalt-surfaced paved rail trail that runs through densely populated urban and suburban...

 and Station Street, north of Elden Street (signed nearby as Virginia State Routes 228

Virginia State Route 228

State Route 228 is a primary state highway in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. It runs from State Route 7 west of Dranesville south to the south town limits of Herndon. There the road becomes State Route 657, which continues past an interchange with State Route 267 to near Centreville...

 and 606

Virginia State Route 606 (Fairfax and Loudoun Counties)

State Route 606 is a secondary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia, and traverses Fairfax County and Loudoun County. This route goes through Reston and Herndon in Fairfax County, and Sterling and Arcola in Loudoun County...

). The building is adjacent to Town Hall Square, which contains the Herndon Town Hall, built in 1939 as a Works Progress Administration

Works Progress Administration

The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...

 project to house all of the Town's administrative offices.

The museum houses railroad memorabilia, information on United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 Commander William Lewis Herndon

William Lewis Herndon

Commander William Lewis Herndon was one of the United States Navy's outstanding explorers and seamen. He chose to go down with his ship while other lives were still aboard and while in command of the steamer Central Americas 44th trip, which sank in a three day and night hurricane off Cape...

, for whom the town was named, and artifacts from the USS Herndon (DD-198)

USS Herndon (DD-198)

USS Herndon was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Herndon served in the United States Coast Guard as CG-17...

, from World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and from local residents. The Herndon Historical Society operates the museum.

The depot was the site of a raid that Confederate Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 Captain John S. Mosby

John S. Mosby

John Singleton Mosby , nicknamed the "Gray Ghost", was a Confederate cavalry battalion commander in the American Civil War...

 led on St. Patrick’s day in March 1863. Mosby and his men surprised the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 picket guarding the station and captured officers, soldiers and horses with no Confederate casualties.

The railroad was an integral part of Herndon’s agricultural history as large dairy farm

Dairy farming

Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...

s surrounded the village. Farmers would ship milk on the railroad daily to Washington

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 for processing and distribution. The railroad station became a center of the community. Businesses sprang up around the station, attracted by the ready access to transportation. With the advent of cars, trucks and better roads, the railroad became less of a necessity for Herndon farmers and residents. The last major assignment for the railway was hauling sand to be used in the concrete

Concrete

Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...

 mix for runway

Runway

According to ICAO a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and take-off of aircraft." Runways may be a man-made surface or a natural surface .- Orientation and dimensions :Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally one tenth...

s at Washington Dulles International Airport

Washington Dulles International Airport

Washington Dulles International Airport is a public airport in Dulles, Virginia, 26 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C. The airport serves the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia metropolitan area centered on the District of Columbia. It is named after John Foster Dulles, Secretary of...

. The railroad and the depot closed in August 1968.

The depot building is a rectangular, one-story wooden vertical board and batten

Batten

A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...

 structure, measuring 70.5 feet (21.5 m) x 20.1 feet (6.1 m). Victorian style

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 buttresses under the eaves are the building’s only decorative feature. The window and door framings and the two baggage doors are original, as are the semaphore

Railway semaphore signal

One of the earliest forms of fixed railway signal is the semaphore. These signals display their different indications to train drivers by changing the angle of inclination of a pivoted 'arm'. Semaphore signals were patented in the early 1840s by Joseph James Stevens, and soon became the most...

 and several pieces of hardware.

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

in 1979. Its site is marked as part of the Virginia Civil War Trails program. The museum is open to the public from noon until 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.

External links

• Herndon Historical Society - official site