The depot was the heart of Thurmond and the New River Gorge in the early 1900s, when the railroad ruled transportation and this station was where people began their business and social activities when they arrived. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway built the depot in 1904, replacing the original 1891 structure that had been destroyed by fire. Passenger and freight trains created constant activity, and at its peak the station was one of the highest revenue-producing depots on the Chesapeake & Ohio line, taking in nearly $5 million in receipts in 1910 and handling nearly 4.3 million tons of freight. In 1984, the Chesapeake & Ohio, by then CSX Transportation, closed the depot, the same year the Thurmond Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Park Service restored the depot and opened it as a summer visitor center in 1995. Today, the town's quietness contrasts with the hustle and bustle of the industrial activity that once took place there.