The story of Spencer Shops begins with a tale of financial collapse and renewal. The Southern Railway Company was formed in 1894, rising Phoenix-like from his ashes of the bankrupt Richmond & Danville Railroad, a once prosperous Virginia-based line chartered in 1847. In 1880, the R&D's owners organized a holding company with the interminable name Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company or Richmond Terminal for short. The move aimed to foster further expansion, as the R&D's original charter forbade the leasing of any road not directly connected to it. The new company aggressively acquired smaller lines in the South and by 1890 controlled more than 8,000 miles of rail stretching from Washington D.C. to Meridian, Mississippi. By 1892, however, over expansion and poor management had left the Richmond Terminal in financial straits. The nationwide depression of 1893 made refinancing difficult, and by the end of the year nearly all of the company's railroads had fallen into receivership. Seventy-four other railroads, many in the South, also went into receiverships during the depression. A committee of Richmond Terminal stockholders asked New York financier J.P. Morgan to reorganize the railroad. Morgan agreed, provided that he chose the people to head the new effort. The man Morgan picked to lead the company was a Confederate veteran and proven railroad man from Georgia named Samuel Spencer. A talented workaholic by today's terms, Spencer impressed his employers with his hard-nosed business-like approach. Each time he switched companies (a common practice of career railroad men in that era), he moved to a more prominent position. As superintendent of the Long Island Railroad, Spencer attracted the attention of Morgan, who hired him as railroad advisor. Morgan knew that if anyone could make the troubled rail network profitable, it was Spencer. Morgan decided to reorganize the Richmond Terminal as "The Southern Railway Company". It began operating on July 1, 1894, with Spencer as president. Beginning with only 2,000 miles of track from the old Richmond Terminal, Spencer used Morgan's backing to snatch up many railroads which had formerly been part of the system. In a few months, the Southern Railway grew to 4,392 miles. During its first year the company grossed $17.1 million with profits of $896,000, an astounding feat considering the financial difficulties of the old Richmond Terminal. The speedy acquisition of many formerly independent lines left Southern with a problem. Much of its inherited rolling stock badly needed repairs which the company's meager shops could not handle. In the railway's first annual report (June 1895) Spencer admitted that the "antiquated and poorly equipped" shops were "not sufficient for their purposes." He reported that shops at Atlanta and Knoxville were being enlarged to handle heavy repairs but added that "one additional large shop may be necessary". The most pressing need for another shop complex was on the eastern main line between Washington and Atlanta. It was customary in that era for trains to switch locomotives every 150 miles to be refueled, inspected for damage and wear, and repaired as needed. By putting a major terminal and shop facility midway between the two cities with smaller terminals at the quarter marks, Southern could divide the Washington to Atlanta run into four segments of about 160 miles each. In late 1895 or early 1896 it became public knowledge that Southern was scouting the middle section of the main line for a site to build a shops facility that would bring hundreds of new jobs. Citizens of Charlotte grew excited for their town was located near the midpoint and believed that it was the logical choice for the complex. At the same time, though, one of Rowan's most prominent citizens was doing all within his power to change this. He was John Steele Henderson, Confederate veteran, lawyer, former state senator, the county's largest landholder and an ardent supporter of industrial development. Henderson entered into secret negotiations with Southern officials. He proposed to buy land secretly for the new shop complex and sell it to the railroad at or near the low price he would pay. Unconfirmed legend has it that Henderson also promised that the Salisbury city limits would never be enlarged to include the site, thus saving the company from paying city taxes. In January 1896 he began buying large tracts of land two miles north of Salisbury, directly on Southern's main line. One of the largest purchases was 101.8 acres from an African-American farmer named Robert Partee at $24.50 per acre. He eventually accumulated 162.2 acres at the spot. He sold 141 acres to the railroad at little more than the price he had paid for them. Many people who came to work at the shops bought land from Henderson. After the turn of the century he sold more land to the railway for expansion of the shops, but this time for a large profit. On March 23, 1896 workmen swarmed over Southern's new land and turned the first shovels full of 75,000 cubic yards of earth moved to build the shops in the subsequent months. On August 19, less that five months later, the shops began operating with Samuel Spencer presiding at the opening ceremonies. The shops were named for Spencer. The original buildings included a roundhouse, machine shop, combination smith and boiler shop, wood working shop, storehouse/office building, power plant and a car repair shed.

Development of the Town of Spencer

The tremendous size and scope of the Spencer Shops and terminal demanded a small army of workers. Skilled craftsmen at many smaller shops of Southern's eastern lines were transferred to the new shops. Because trains changed crews at the Spencer terminal, engineers, firemen, brakemen, and conductors also descended on the area. These men brought families and intended to settle down and make new homes. Some chose Salisbury or rural sections of Rowan County, but most wanted to live close to their workplace. Traditionally railroads had to build communities for workers near their new shops. During the summer of 1896, as construction continued on the shops, Southern began to partition 84.9 acres of nearby land into 500 lots. Streets were numbered or named for local geographic features or historical figures. Lots for homes and businesses sold for $100 apiece and it was not uncommon for two or more lots to be sold to the same person. The lots were relatively small, 50 X 145 for dwelling lots and 25 X 145 for those designated for business. In 1901 the 625 residents of Spencer were granted incorporation by the state legislature. ( this information is condensed from "Southern Railway's Spencer Shops 1896-1996" by Duane Galloway and Jim Wrinn, TLC Publishing Inc.)

For more info on railroader living in Spencer,
 please visit the "The Spencer Inn" website.

Postcards courtesy of John Patterson, Spencer, NC


Postcard picture of Railroad bridge and 1300 foot long highway bridge located at the north approach to Spencer.

North Carolina Transportation Museum

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