Amherst's first depot, when the town was known as Dearborn, was built in the late 1800s for the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. In November 1913, after taking over the O&A and expanding operations in Amherst County, Southern Railway replaced it with a new passenger station built by the Pettyjohn Company of nearby Lynchburg at a cost of $4,712. Constructed with longleaf pine siding and a red tile roof, the depot reflected the typical style of early railroad stations. A ticket booth projected from the center facing the tracks, with waiting rooms on each side, one for black people and the other for white people, while a freight depot stood across Depot Street. Renovations in the 1920s converted the south waiting room into a freight depot and changed the exterior colors. Until the 1940s, three passenger trains stopped there each day. Passenger service ended in the 1960s, and freight pick-up and drop-off ended in the mid-1970s. In 1985, the depot passed into the private ownership of Marshall Mays, owner of Mays Farmers Service Co. In the spring of 1995, Mays offered the depot and its .62-acre lot to the Amherst Chamber of Commerce; the building then stood about one quarter mile from its original location. Restored by the County of Amherst, the depot still stands near the train tracks.
