Hunter Station
The 1860 Alexandria, Loudoun, and Hampshire Railroad station at this junction was called a flag stop - a passenger would step out and flag down the train to catch a ride.
At the time that the 1900 picture to the left was taken, the railroad was owned by the Southern Railway and was operated by steam. This view looked west with what is now Hunter Mill Road behind the shelter.
The line was electrified with overhead wires in 1912 after the line became the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railway.
The piece of equipment just beyond the road and to the right of the sign is a mail crane, which let the stationmaster hoist up a mailbag to where it could be snatched up as the train passed.
Passenger service ended in 1951, freight service in 1968 and the line was abandoned. In 1974 the first segment of the W&OD Trail opened within Falls Church.
Marker is on Hunter Mill Road (County Route 674), on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
