Hamilton Station on the W&OD Trail

Hamilton Station 0003	Hamilton Station 0011
Hamilton Station 0021	Hamilton Station 0036

Today I took a longer bike ride on the W&OD going out to Purcellville, VA on a foggy morning. About 3 miles East of Purcellville the W&OD passes by a old building that I had always thought to be an old Feed store that traditionally supplied farmers with items needed on the farm. And because I always noted cars in the graveled parking area, I had assumed it to be still active. As it turns out the building dates to 1870 and served the village of Hamilton as a train station when what eventually became the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) railroad was extended beyond Leesburg after the Civil War. For the remainder of the 19th century and the the first half of the 20th this railroad served as the principal manner in which farmers got their product to Washington and Baltimore. Today the building stands right up against the W&OD trail and is used apparently to store hay. A feed store does exist but it stands at the base of the grain silos seen in one of the pictures. As a young boy when my Dad had a farm in Arkansas I remember going to the feed store on Saturday in the GM pickup he had. And if I was lucky I got a Baby Ruth and a 6 oz. coke. Olympus OMD, 12-50mm@12mm, f5.6, 1/50s - 1/200s, ISO 200.