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More Information&nbsp; The museum is dedicated to George L. Carter, Southern industrialist and builder of the Clinchfield Railroad. In 1909, Carter&nbsp;donated his one-hundred-twenty acre farm and $100,000 to the state of Tennessee to&nbsp;ensure the establishment of a normal school/teachers college in Johnson City. This school later developed into ETSU.&nbsp;

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ETSU Founder; The George L. Carter Legacy


Railroad Museum at East Tennessee State University


George L. Carter Railroad Museum (Our Tennessee TV)


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Mountain Empire Model Railroader Webpage 

The George L. Carter Railroad Museum was established in November 2007 on the campus of East Tennessee State University [ETSU] in Johnson City, TN. Displays at the museum feature a variety of model railroading locomotives, rolling stock, structures, railroad memorabilia, and toy trains. The facility showcases three operating layouts--each designed using different scales--that highlight the role of the railroad industry in Southern Appalachian. Volunteers from the Mountain Empire Model Railroader club operate the museum's model railroads and share information about both model railroading and historic railroads near Johnson City. 

George L. Carter Railroad Museum 

Railroads and industrial practices have played crucial roles in the creations and developments of many areas in the Tri-Cities region throughout its rich history, and several structures remain intact today as evidence. This tour includes railroad stations, museums, and industrial warehouses in Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol, which have been present and influential in their communities and cultures for decades.

The Clinchfield Station is notable for its age and its significance in helping to shape Kingsport into the industrial community it was throughout the mid 20th Century, even following the station’s service stoppage in the 1950s.Before 1908, the town of Kingsport was essentially utilized as a telegraph town. Afterward, and after the completion of the Clinchfield Railroad, coal would be brought in on the railroad, transported to a chemical plant and shipped off to its destination along the Clinchfield.&nbsp;The Clinchfield Railroad route featured many major and prominent stations throughout Appalachia, including several in Tennessee. The three most popular Tennessee stations along the route, completed in 1908, include the Kingsport Station, the Erwin Station, and the Johnson City Station.During their periods of operation, the Johnson City Clinchfield Depot was perhaps the most influential for the company and the region, as it was operated as both a major freight and major passenger station. By contrast, the stations in Kingsport and Erwin were utilized as passenger, mail, and express stations, with separate facilities for freight.The Clinchfield Freight Depot building in Kingsport, located just roughly half-a-mile away from the railroad station, is still extant today, and is now utilized as part of&nbsp;the location for the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce.Today, the building which used to be occupied by the Clinchfield Railroad Station in Kingsport is utilized as a Citizens Bank along with various other businesses and organizations, with seemingly little to no changes to its outer structure and appearance.

The Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio Passenger Train Station, or the Clinchfield Railroad Station, in Kingsport, was built in 1916 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. Constructed from the design of New York architect Clinton McKenzie, the station was no longer in service starting in 1954.

Clinchfield Railroad Station

The land upon which the station currently sits was donated by Rev. James Kin in 1848, before the establishment of Bristol in the 1950s. In 1856, the first-ever passenger train in Bristol arrived at the Norfolk and Western station. Just two years later, the Southern Railway was completed, stretching from Bristol to Knoxville. Subsequently, Bristol flourished as a prominent manufacturing and commercial center in the region.&nbsp;The first depot at which the first passenger train in Bristol arrived at in 1956 was constructed by James Fields of Abingdon. This depot, in comparison to the current station, was located slightly farther north. Today, it would be located directly east of the intersection of Cumberland Street and the Randall Street Expressway. The initial depot was destroyed on December 14, 1864 during the 3rdNorth Carolina Mounted Infantry’s raid, under Union Maj. Gen. George Stoneman, into Southwest Virginia.Following the Civil War, a freight car was temporarily utilized as the town’s freight depot until 1866 when construction of a new depot was completed. By the 1880s, Bristol’s flourishing and growth led to the need for a larger depot to serve the region. In 1881, a 326 feet long passenger shed was constructed, along with a temporary office building on one end, and the existing depot was subsequently destroyed. The third depot was constructed by William H. Smith or John M. Crowell and was completed early in 1882.When the current station was constructed in 1902-1903, by John Pettyjohn and Company of Lynchburg, Virginia, it became the fourth station to exist on the lot. The design of the current station bears extensive resemblances to design plans for a structure which was projected to be built in 1889 but never was. For the majority of the 20thCentury, the Bristol Railway was utilized as one of the most prominent freight and passenger depots in the region. According to a report published in December last year by the Bristol Herald Courier, when the Bristol Station’s historic marker was unveiled, Tim Buchanan, vice president of the Bristol Historical Association and member of the Bristol Train Station Foundation, said, “Before 1971, this was the interstate that brought everything to Bristol.”&nbsp;1In 1999, the Bristol Train Station Foundation purchased the structure with plans to renovate and restore the station as a centerpiece of downtown Bristol. The Foundation reportedly planned for the station to be operating again soon after its restoration. In 2008, the Bristol Station began a decade-long restoration process which was completed in 2018. The restoration process required over $5 million in funds.Today, the station is utilized for a variety of public and private events. However, local publications have recently reported the Bristol Tennessee-Virginia Rail Coalition is supportive of the prospective return of passenger rail services to Bristol in the future. The same report from last year by the Bristol Herald Courier revealed that the group, including over twenty local organizations, “supports the extension of passenger rail from Roanoke, Virginia, to Bristol and then southward to Knoxville, Tennessee; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; and Birmingham, Alabama.” 1&nbsp;A 2017 Amtrak study also concluded that a potential passenger line from Bristol to Roanoke would likely be profitable, and the city of Bristol, VA, is now working on its own study.

The Bristol Railroad Station, previously known as the Bristol Union Railway Station, is located on the edge of Bristol’s Commercial Historic District. While the station initially opened in 1856, the current stone and brick structure was constructed in 1902-1903. After the passenger service was terminated in 1971, the structure stood vacant for several years until being renovated as a shopping mall in the 1980s. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as one of the last remaining examples of Norfolk and Western Railroad depots built before World War I as part of a series of system expansions during the era. The building is now used for various public and private events. Its unique structure blends Romanesque and European-style architecture and features a notable hipped-roof pavilion on one end.

Bristol Railroad Station

The origins of the recognized necessity for such a train station in the Bristol area date back to around 1876. In March of that year, the Bristol Coal and Iron Railroad Company reached an agreement to take over the business and belongings of the Virginia and Kentucky Railroad Company. Following further negotiations regarding this agreement, the decision was made for the Virginia and Kentucky Company to change its name to the South Atlantic &amp; Ohio Railroad Company. The initial president of the South Atlantic &amp; Ohio Company was a man from Scott County named Major Henry Clinton Wood. A railroad was completed via prison labor through Gate City by about 1887 and through Big Stone Gap by May of 1890. The railroad’s arrival to Scott County and Bristol signified not only a greater and more extensive connection with outside regions, but also an economic boom for the city in exchange for a drastic decrease in local manufacturing. By around 1892, the South Atlantic &amp; Ohio Company had been overtaken by a larger company. In 1898, its property was foreclosed and purchased by bondholders. In 1899, the property formerly of the South Atlantic &amp; Ohio Company was purchased from a syndicate by the Virginia and Southwestern Railroad Company. The Virginia and Southwestern Railroad Company was the product of a merger between the Ohio Railroad Company and the Bristol, Elizabethton, and North Carolina Railroad. The first floor of the building includes a few alterations from the its initial appearance when it was constructed nearly 135 years ago. The first floor once featured two soldier-course arches and stone keystones, but they were filled and covered with brick at an unknown date. Additionally, the metal commercial doors in the front are additions installed sometime around 1980. The second-floor front facade includes additional windows with soldier course arched openings and stone keystones. The third floor features five window bays. Each bay now includes a one-over-one replacement window installed around 1990. The front of the building also includes an additional large two-story brick wing which was completed around 1910. The façade of the 1910 wing includes a large window and entry bay with a commercial door, all installed sometimes around 1980. This bay has also since been filled in with brick. The backsides of both buildings appear quite irregular. The rear of the initial structure includes a shed roof canopy and is connected to the back of the 1910 addition. Both buildings once included additional windows and entrances which have since been filled with brick or covered with plywood.

This three-story brick building was constructed sometime around 1887. Today, the site is one of the contributing properties in Bristol’s Warehouse Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. Much of the building’s original structure remains intact today, though the structure itself remains mostly vacant. The building has been utilized by a number of different industrial companies throughout its long history, including, for close to two decades, the South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad Company.

South Atlantic & Ohio Railroad Station

Today, the Central Warehouse Corp. building is most likely vacant or utilized for various office spaces for the City of Bristol and/or its School Division. The most notable feature of the warehouse is on its northern façade, which faces Scott St. and the remaining tracks of the Bristol Coal and Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad, which was a product of slave labor completed during the late 19th Century. On this façade is a painted and fading logo reading: “CENTRAL WAREHOUSE CORP.” An exact copy of this logo appears just around the corner from the northern façade, on the western side of the warehouse. The northern façade of the warehouse facing Scott St. includes six bays and two elevated concrete platforms. One platform includes a sliding wooden door with a metal canopy above. Near the platform is a 30-light steel window with concrete sill. Further along this façade is a large wooden garage bay door. This façade also includes a larger window with a wooden track door above. The western façade of the building stretches over a significant slope parallel to Lee St. On this façade is a loading dock platform and two four-panel sliding track doors. There is also an entrance on this side of the building which was once open to the public. The western façade also includes a steel and brick panel design and a metal roof canopy. A symbol of Bristol’s economic boom experienced roughly twenty years after the end of the Civil War, the Bristol Warehouse Historic District includes an area once filled with warehouses and industrial constructions. The district, located on the Virginia side of the Bristol border, features several surviving industrial and commercial buildings constructed as early as 1880 and as late at the 1950s. The building’s official listing in the National Register of Historic Places, completed in 2012, includes six buildings and one additional contributing item. The six buildings include an old railroad station, four warehouses, and one nearby home. The final contributing item to the Bristol Warehouse Historic District is the collection of the late 19th Century railroad tracks still visible throughout the district. These tracks were originally constructed as a product of prison labor and called the Bristol Coal and Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad.

The Central Warehouse Corporation building traces its origins back to 1946. Today, the building is the second site included in Bristol’s Warehouse Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. The Central Warehouse Corp. building shares its eastern-most wall with the western elevation of the Bristol Builders Supply Company building on the corner of Lee St. and Scott St. On their northern facades, the two buildings appear very similar from a street view, possibly even seeming to be the same building at a glance.

Central Warehouse Corporation

Though constructed in 1910, much of the building’s current appearance from its exterior is a result of reconstruction in 1925, likely following damages from a fire or storm. The door(s) on the northern façade of the building facing Scott St were likely added some time around 1960. This portion of the building also initially features a concrete loading platform.The lower level windows of the building are made of steel with concrete sills. Windows on the second floor are also made of steel and represent a hinged design. The middle bay on the upper floor is a steel window with brick pilasters. Near the roofline of the northern façade is a parapet wall with terra cotta coping.The basement level of the building, its entrance located on Moore St., used to include several unique features which have likely since been replaced or removed. One of the entrances, an aluminum and glass door, was installed sometime around 1970, but has likely since been replaced. The windows on this floor originally featured a sailor course arch, making them easily distinguishable from the windows on the upper levels. The basement also once featured a multi-light wooden and glass garage door dating back to around 1950.Local artisan brewers Erich and Pam Allen, following more than two years of searching, decided on Bristol as the location for the prospective second location of their company, Studio Brew, in 2014. Following some significant restorations and construction, the 15-barrel Micro Brewery, which also includes some 30-barrel fermenters, opened sometime around mid-2015. “Studio Brew will be a destination point, but it will also be a packaging brewery,” Erich Allen said in 2014. “From the arts to dining and music, downtown Bristol is exploding with excitement and growth, and we want to be a part of it.” 1While initial plans for Studio Brew included only the basement level for functioning, its owners have also made clear their plans for expansions on the upper levels in the future. The Allens have said they would like to eventually transform the upper level, with its entrance on Scott St, into a tasting room, distillery, and various office spaces and event areas, but such would require significantly more restorations and renovations. According to the Allens, the location will soon be the site of a more than 20,000 square foot full production major brewery for the region.

The two-story building with entrances on Scott Street and Moore was constructed around 1910. The building is part of Bristol’s Warehouse Historic District which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. From the time of its construction and for many years after, the building functioned as a distillery on the lower floors and as a roller rink on the upper level. Today, the building is home to Tri-Cities artisan brewery Studio Brew, which is based in Sullivan County, Tennessee. The Bristol location for Studio Brew is the studio's second location in addition to the original in Kingsport.

Bristol Warehouse Company / Studio Brew

The building, while appearing to face Lee Street, actually has two entrances, one at 220 Lee Street and one at 500 Scott Street. The Scott Street entrance is elevated higher than the portion of the first floor of the building which extends further down Lee Street. The second floor of the building was the location of its expansion in 1928, in which a brick office wing was added.  The warehouse, as it was originally constructed, features a concrete foundation with a rolled asphalt roof and a common brick exterior. The portion of the building facing Lee Street includes a loading dock platform and an entrance on the elevated side. The lower side has no entrance but includes six window bays on the upper floor. The first floor includes four window bays. Many windows in the building have since been significantly changed or covered entirely. The eastern side of the building facing Lee Street includes one of the most notable features of the original construction. In addition to a stepped parapet, this façade also features a blue and white terra cotta panel which reads: “BRISTOL BUILDERS SUPPLY CO.” The southern portion of this side, which is elevated, marks the location of the 1928 expansion to include office space for the company. The second floor of this façade also includes horizontal Carrara glass bands which stretch around the street corner onto the eastern façade. The southern portion facing Lee Street includes a large Black-and-white painting at the top of the building, reading: “CENTRAL WAREHOUSE CORP. WHOLESALE BUILDING MATERIALS TO DEALERS ONLY.” In 2010, the City of Bristol chose to allocate the then-vacant building to the Bristol City School Division. Just two years later, in 2012, the building was at the forefront of the movement to form a Bristol Warehouse Historic District featuring it and several other nearby buildings, some now included in the listing and others not. Today, the building is mostly utilized by the school district as a space for modern offices for school administrators. The City of Bristol and Bristol City Youth Services may also have dedicated office spaces in the building. The funding for these transformations, which notably have only been made to certain portions of the building, while other have remained unchanged, comes mainly from a $3 million interest-free federal loan program. During the official historic district designation process, local leaders were notably adamant about including the old warehouse as part of a larger project to form a new historic district in Bristol as opposed to listing the site individually. Other historic districts on the Virginia side of Bristol include the Bristol Commercial Historic District, the Euclid Avenue Historic District, Solar Hill Historic District, and Virginia Hill Historic District.

This building was constructed around 1925 and expanded slightly in 1928. The warehouse is included in the Bristol Warehouse Historic District and was constructed for the Bristol Builders Supply Company. The building's significance and preservation was one of the factors that inspired local leaders to secure an official designation for the city and this district, an effort that concluded in 2012 when the district was added to the National Register. 

Tri-Cities Railroads/Industrial Buildings Historic Tour

George L. Carter Railroad Museum

Introduction

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Backstory and Context

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