Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainAn authentic 1905 Victorian train depot relocated to Roxboro in 1975, housing Civil War-era railroad dining cars — one a documented hospital car — where a ghost conductor named Cedric is reportedly seen in mirrors.
4080 Durham Rd, Roxboro, NC 27573
Research updated May 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Full-service steakhouse. Dinner entrees mid-range; no admission fee beyond dining.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Level; historic train depot and dining cars with interior access
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1905 · Authentic 1905 Victorian railroad depot relocated from Clarksville, Virginia · Continuously operated as a restaurant since 1975 in Roxboro, NC · Houses two 1860s railroad cars with Civil War medical history · Represents the Atlantic and Danville Railroad heritage of the Piedmont region
The Victorian depot that anchors Clarksville Station was built in 1905 in Clarksville, Virginia, by the Atlantic and Danville Railroad (later Southern Railway). For nearly seven decades it served as a central passenger and freight hub linking south-central Virginia with north-central North Carolina — processing the mail, the crops, and the travelers that shaped both communities. It closed on June 29, 1973, when declining rail traffic made the station economically unviable.
Rather than demolish the structure, preservation-minded parties dismantled it and relocated it approximately 45 miles south to Roxboro, North Carolina — the seat of Person County in the north-central Piedmont. The renovated Clarksville Station Restaurant opened in 1975, retaining the depot's original Victorian architecture and railroad character while adding a kitchen and full dining service.
The restaurant's most distinctive features are its two authentic 1860s railroad cars, which now serve as dining rooms. Local tradition holds that one car transported patients during the Civil War, functioning as a hospital car, while the other served as a morgue transport. Both claims are consistent with the wartime use of railroad rolling stock as mobile medical infrastructure during the Civil War, though specific provenance documentation for these particular cars has not been independently verified.
After years of gradual decline, the restaurant was purchased in 2019 by Bryan Day — who had worked there as a teenager — along with his siblings. They undertook a restoration and reopened Clarksville Station to renewed regional attention. The restaurant continues to operate as of 2026, with a menu themed around railroad lore and the original salad bar tradition intact.
Sources
According to staff and regular patrons, a ghost known affectionately as 'Cedric' inhabits the dining area at Clarksville Station. The apparition is consistently described as appearing in mirrors — particularly the large mirror behind dining tables — as the image of an old conductor in period uniform, visible for a moment before vanishing. No violence or tragedy is attributed to Cedric; the spirit is treated as a benign and even beloved presence by the restaurant's community.
The Civil War-era dining cars lend the haunting an additional layer of historical weight. Local tradition holds that one car transported wounded Union and Confederate soldiers as a hospital car, and another carried the dead. Diners in these cars have reported hearing indistinct voices or cries after the restaurant has closed for the evening, attributed by some to residual energy from the wartime medical use of the cars. Uptown Roxboro and Hyco Lake Magazine, both regional sources, have documented these reports.
The lore at Clarksville Station is notably low-key — no dramatic hauntings, no named tragic deaths — which has earned it a reputation as an accessible, family-friendly haunted dining experience where the history of the venue carries as much atmosphere as the ghost stories.
Notable Entities
Dine inside two authentic 1860s railroad cars — one documented as a Civil War hospital car, the other believed to have served as a morgue transport — while watching for the resident ghost conductor in the mirrors.
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