North Charleston, SC (CHS)

4565 Gaynor Avenue
North Charleston, SC 29405

Station Ownership

Facility:
CSX

Parking:
CSX

Platform(s):
CSX

Track(s):
CSX

Amtrak Contact

Todd Stennis

Routes Served:

• Palmetto
• Silver Meteor

History

The Charleston Union Station, built in 1907 at a cost of $250,000, was a beautiful double-towered edifice serving Atlantic Coast Line, Seaboard Air Line and Southern Railways. This station caught fire on January 11, 1947 and was destroyed. The train shed behind this station remained until 1954, when it was agreed that a new station should be built in a different location.

The current brick station, typical of utilitarian buildings of that era, was built in 1956 by the Atlantic Coast Line near North Charleston’s Park Circle. At one time, its second floor served as the Atlantic Coast Line’s freight office for the Charleston Division; that office closed when it became part of the Florence division of CSXT. The first floor passenger waiting room is still operating.

A new intermodal transportation hub, intended to serve regional as well as long distance buses and passenger rail from North Charleston had been in the planning stages since 1997. Finally, ground was broken in September 2007 for the intermodal hub on 30 acres west of the current station. It is slightly southwest of the Charleston International Airport and would create connections with the airport in North Charleston and the North Charleston Coliseum complex, as well as serve to shuttle visitors downtown.

The project is being funded with both state and federal funds and is managed by the Charleston Area Regional Transit Authority (CARTA). Phase I will include clearing of the site and construction of a Park & Ride Lot at an estimated cost of $2 million. The center, once completed, will serve as a transportation hub for Amtrak trains, Greyhound buses and area taxis. The site was purchased by CARTA in 2000 with federal, state and local funds.

The city of Charleston lies just south of the midpoint on South Carolina’s coastline. It was originally named Charles Town, after King Charles II of England, when it was first founded in 1670 at the junction of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, one of the eight Lords Proprietor of the Carolina colony. Around 1690, the town moved to that peninsula, its current site. At that time, the Carolina colony was not separated into North and South, and Charleston became its capital. In 1710 the colonies split into North and South Carolina.

The city was continually attacked, both by Native Americans and from the sea by French and Spanish, who contested ownership of that part of the Americas with England; as well as by pirates—including Blackbeard, in 1718. Therefore, it was built with forts facing the sea and a series of walls. To this day, Charleston still hosts a large U.S. military presence, with Coast Guard, Navy, Army, and Air Force bases in the immediate area.

By the mid-eighteenth century, Charleston had become a major port and center of commerce, beginning with its role as outlet for products of the plantations nearby. Charleston has continued to play an important role in the history and politics of the region. Famously, on January 9, 1861, Citadel cadets fired the opening shots of the American Civil War from Fort Sumter, when they opened fire on the unarmed Union ship, Star of the West, entering Charleston’s harbor.

In railroad history, the first locomotive to be places into regular service on any American railroad was the “Best Friend of Charleston,” which was built at the West Point Foundry, New York, and came into service on the South Carolina Railroad (now the Southern) in Charleston on December 25, 1830.

North Charleston, where the Amtrak station is located, is a suburban industrial city in Charleston and Dorchester counties. Since the early 1900s, this area was set out as a planned industrial community with its growth geared directly to the industrial, military, and business communities. The Charleston International Airport and the Charleston Air Force Base are both located there.

In 1912, a group of Charleston businessmen laid out the industrial city. Park Circle was planned as one of only two garden city models in the U.S. at the time, and most of the original planning concept remains today. In 1972, so that citizens residing there could have more control over their futures, North Charleston was incorporated as a city.

The facility has a waiting room and is staffed by Amtrak employees.

Charleston is served by four daily trains.

ADA Compliance

Federal law requires compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by 2010. The following is a list of items typically required for transportation and public facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please check the regulations for guidance or contact us for more information.