N&W in 1911--Depot wanted

[NW Mailing List]

There is a follow-up article which will appear on the Mailing List in a few days mentioning again the need for the depot at Hockman, and mentioning that there was not even a shelter for people wanting to get on the passenger trains, so this indicates that Hockman must have been a flag stop.

The N&W Clinch Valley passenger timetable in the 1915 Official Guide does not list Hockman, or anything else between Graham and Tip Top, but, curiously, the Index of Railway Stations in the back of the Guide does list Hockman, Va., as being on the N&W!  I'll try to remember to check some vintage operating timetables at the monthly Archives session this week to see if Hockman is listed.  In any event, I'm not aware that a depot was ever built there.

As has been pointed out by Dave Phelps, the apparent location of Hockman was in what is called West Graham.  Beginning in July 1904 there was a streetcar line from Bluefield, WV, as far as Morton Street (present-day S. College Avenue) in downtown Graham, but the streetcar line between Morton Street and West Graham was not constructed until 1921 or 1922, even though newspaper articles as early as 1911 were advocating such a line.  So in 1911 West Graham would have been a bit isolated from Graham proper.

Gordon Hamilton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 12:53 PM
  Subject: RE: N&W in 1911--Depot wanted


  Gordon:

  Was the passenger freight station ever built?

  George Weber



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
    Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 11:51 AM
    To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
    Subject: Re: N&W in 1911--Depot wanted


    Gordon:

    When I was growing up in Bluefield, VA in the late '40s and early '50s, that part of Bluefield, VA was still known locally as "West Graham".  Present-day residents will have to comment on whether that's still true.  And, of course, the high school was, and I believe still is, known as "Graham High."

    Dave Phelps

    In a message dated 2/9/2011 6:55:08 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org writes:
      Bluefield Daily Telegraph
      June 18, 1911

      THE GRAHAM DAILY NEWS
      ------
      Hockman Wants Depot
          The citizens of Hockman want a depot provided for their convenience near the Keys Planing Mill, and it is understood a move is on foot where by the Norfolk and Western will be asked to build a new depot out there for the accommodation of that section of the town.  The people residing in the extreme west end are compelled to haul their freight all the way to the Graham station, and they believe the business of the west end is sufficient to justify the railroad in establishing a freight and passenger station at Hockman.
      ------
      [Old Sanborn maps show Keys Planing Mill in west Graham (present-day Bluefield, VA) where the Clinch Valley line turns south to head away from Greever Avenue (present-day Virginia Avenue).  Modern maps show a Hockman Pike nearby.]

      Gordon Hamilton


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