Atherton Mill was a

heritage streetcar Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles. Trains It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...

station in

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The former at-grade

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

was located in front of the Trolley Barn at Atherton Mill and it had served as the southern terminus of the

Charlotte Trolley The Charlotte Trolley was a heritage streetcar that operated in Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte in the United States, U.S. state of North Carolina. The line ran along the former Norfolk Southern Right-of-way (transportation), right of way betw ...

, which connected South End to

Uptown Charlotte Uptown Charlotte, also called Center City, is the central business district of Charlotte, North Carolina. The area is split into four wards by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets, and bordered by Interstate 277 and Interstate 77. The a ...

.Atherton Mill station from CATS

History

Atherton Mill and its immediate area

The Atherton Cotton Mill was built in 1892 and was the first industrial mill in the planned Dilworth factory district. It operated from 1893 to 1933, when Atherton Mills, Inc. lost ownership due to foreclosure. In 1937, the J. Schoenith Company, Inc. purchased the mill and converted to manufacturer "high grade" candy, baked goods, and peanut products. Lasting till the early 1960s, the facility since then was utilized as a wholesaling site for textile-related manufacturing companies and then later converted into office and residential condominiums. In 2017, part of the property was partitioned and redeveloped into a

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

called Novel Atherton. The Parks-Cramer Company Complex was built in 1919 and was expanded several times; the facility manufactured air conditioning equipment for textile mills and operated till 1988, when the firm sold its operations. Soon afterwards, the complex was converted into retail and office spaces. The Trolley Barn, located between Atherton Mill and the Parks-Cramer Company Complex, was originally a section of warehouse, for Atherton Mill, before being converted into a museum and restoration shop in 1996 for the Charlotte Trolley. The Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) took over operations in 2003 and by 2007 the facility was repurposed as a

Farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or o ...

once the museum was relocated near

Bland Street station Bland Street is a light rail station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The at-grade dual side platforms are a stop along the Lynx Blue Line and serves South End and nearby Dilworth neighborhood. Location The station is located one ...

. In 2017, the Trolley Barn section was kept while the rest of the original warehouse building was razed. In 2021, the building was repurposed as a restaurant and brewery, called the Trolley Barn Fermentory and Food Hall, with the farmers' market relocated to the adjacent courtyard area.

Charlotte Trolley service

Located in front of the Trolley Barn, the station began operations on August 30, 1996. Consisting of a fence-separated seating area along one of the two tracks, the station operated Thursday through Sunday and then daily on June 28, 2004. Service was temporarily halted from February 5, 2006 through April 20, 2008; after-which the station operated on a limited schedule. When the Charlotte Trolley ended service on June 28, 2010, the Atherton Mill station, along with three other trolley only stations, ceased operations. In 2019, the second track that ended in front of the Trolley Barn was removed and replaced with a cement walkway that connects to Tremont station and the Charlotte Rail Trail.

References

External links

Atherton Mill station

South End Charlotte
Former Charlotte Area Transit System stations Atherton Mill Railway stations in the United States opened in 1996 Railway stations closed in 2010 {{NorthCarolina-railstation-stub