Powells Creek Crossing

Efforts began in 1864, but this section of rail line did not open for service until July 2, 1872, with the aid of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The crossing at Powell’s Creek was 1,100 feet long and was built of heavy timber supplied by the Troth and Willis lumberyard on Neabsco Creek next to the park entrance. White and black oak, poplar, gum, and beech provided the wood needed for bridges between Quantico and Washington. The line later came under the ownership of the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad, which in 1928 replaced the original timber bridge with a concrete deck bridge that allowed larger and faster trains. The wooden trestle and the numerous curves of the original track had limited speed in the area to no more than 20 miles per hour. When it was replaced, the crossing at Powells Creek was the last wooden trestle bridge on the line, and during very low tides the remains of wood pilings that once supported it can still be seen.

Virginia · United States