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123-5493 Petersburg Trailways Bus Station
Photo credit: Calder Loth, 2021
The Trailways Bus Station in downtown Petersburg was the site of civil rights protests and sit-ins that occurred during 1960 and 1961. As one of the stops on the historic Freedom Ride civil rights campaign, the bus station witnessed events that were a critical part of the Civil Rights Movement in Petersburg and the Commonwealth of Virginia. Constructed in 1946 and to date the only mid-20th-century, unaltered Trailways bus station in the Streamlined Moderne style documented by DHR, the building retains the architectural features that marked racial segregation. With separate bathrooms, water fountains, and waiting areas, it was specifically designed to convey and enforce the requirement that there be strict separation of whites and African Americans to the extent possible as then set forth under Virginia law. Privately owned at the time of its listing, the building will be repurposed as a retail or restaurant space while retaining the building's historic plan and design. The Petersburg Trailways Bus Station also contributes to the Halifax Triangle and Downtown Commercial Historic District.