Valdosta Train Stations

In The TitleTown Express, I guessed at where a Valdosta train station should go. I was thinking where West Hill Ave. crosses the GS&F line from Hahira, but that’s a mile from downtown: too far out. Why not look to see where the Valdosta train station was before? Well, it seems there was not one, not two, but three stations in Valdosta, at least in 1919:

Valdosta, Georgia Train Stations, 1919

Source map found in Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas at Austin

There was one station each for:

Atlantic Coast Line R.R.
between Patterson and Ashley just N. of Savannah Ave.,
where the U-turn now is before the overpass;
these tracks were rerouted when the overpass was built;
ironic considering that’s the line that caused Valdosta to be located where it is

Georgia and Florida R.R.
W. of Patterson between Savannah Ave. and Branch St. (now W. Florida Ave.) about at where S. Toombs St. now crosses;
these tracks go under the overpass;
these are the tracks that go to Moody

Georgia Southern & Florida R.R.
Just W. of Patterson S. on Branch St. (now W. Florida Ave.);
these tracks go under the overpass;
these are the tracks that go to Hahira, Mineola, Remerton, Dasher, and Lake Park
All next to Patterson Street south of Hill Ave., and within easy walking distance of each other and downtown.

So 2 out of 3 station locations still have running tracks (and the third I think also has running tracks; they were just rerouted to go under the underpass). I have no idea who owns the station footprints. Wouldn’t have to be precisely the same locations, anyway; somewhere within a block or two would have the same advantages of accessibility to each other and to downtown.

-jsq