During the 1840s, the Commonwealth of Virginia helped finance extension of this branch westward over the Blue Ridge Mountains to Covington in Allegheny County.

[4] The station and railroad proved strategic during the American Civil War, both for troop movement and for transport and storage of military supplies.

On July 20, 1862, John Mosby was captured by Union cavalry under Brigadier General Rufus King while waiting for a train.

Later versions of the incident disagree as to whether Mosby was trying to convey information to his commander, General Stonewall Jackson in Richmond, or taking brief leave toward his parents' home in Lynchburg, Virginia, but all agree that Mosby was soon released as part of the war's first prisoner exchange, as well as that the Union raiders burnt the depot to destroy supplies, as well as cut the strategic telegraph line.

[6] The single-story, rectangular, gable roofed brick building features decorative brickwork, including corbelling and pilasters.