#ThisIsThePlace: Oldest train depot in NC calls Burgaw home

BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — The historic Burgaw Depot is the oldest train depot in North Carolina.

The depot was built in 1850, but in 1862 Union cavalry set it on fire. The flames were put out before any major damage was done to the building.

Then in 1865 the depot became the Confederate headquarters for retreating generals and their troops for weeks after the fall of Fort Fisher and Wilmington.

“The stories that are around this depot are just absolutely incredible because they encompass African American stories, they encompass the Civil War, both Confederate and Union stories, just a host of life occurred here,” said Mike Taylor the Pender County Library Director. “You might say that Burgaw’s heart first beat here at the Burgaw Depot because it predates the town by 25 years.”

“Pender County was created from New Hanover in 1875,” Taylor said. “The railroad saw an opportunity to do something constructive with the cut over land, so they offered it to the county for a county seat, and the laid out the streets all around the depot, and the rest is history.”

According the Taylor, the last train rolled through Burgaw around 1985.

The train depot was renovated in 2009 and now offers a banquet hall, conference room, transportation museum, office space and commercial kitchen.