Train Depot

Location: 7300 Summerfield Road 

Marker installed: Spring 2023

The railroad came to Summerfield in 1887 in the form of the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway which had been formed in 1879. Originally a “mountains to seas” railroad, it became the Atlantic & Yadkin Railway after being purchased in 1899 by the Southern Railway and having the Sanford to Wilmington section sold off. Summerfield served as the headquarters for the CF&YVR with a spur and a maintenance shed and a dozen or more workers. A depot was built early in the railroads history and stood adjacent to Summerfield Road just north of Rhondan Road. The railroad put Summerfield in touch with the world carrying passengers, freight and mail. With the growth of car and truck transportation and road and highway improvements the railroad was no longer needed. Passenger service on the railroad ended in 1939. The depot was torn down in 1952 and the freight shed you now see across Rhondan Road was built in its place. The last freight service was in the late 1970s. Tracks were removed in 1981.

Thanks to some Summerfield residents, with a special thank you to JC Dye and Historical Committee Chair Gary Brown for taking the lead, to help move the last known building from Summerfield’s railroad to Summerfield Road. The wooden building located near the historical marker was thought to be the freight shed for railroad workers. In May 2020, JC Dye donated the building to the town, thanks to the offer of neighbor Marsha Ramsey. Gary Brown organized the relocation of the building. Clyde Dye, Dye's father and a railroad worker, moved the building to Dupree Drive and Oak Street more than half a century ago.