Seaboard Air Line Building, Portsmouth, Virginia

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Portsmouth, Independent Cities, Virginia, Sanborn Map Company, February 1898

Seaboard Airline R. R. Station and Main Offices, Portsmouth, Va. (postcard, circa 1930-1945)

“The Seaboard Air Line carries an interesting name.  It did not operate airplanes, had no connection with the airline industry, and the name “Air Line” was part of its corporate heritage more than thirty years before the Wright Brothers’ First Flight! The term was largely a marketing gimmick used by early promoters to describe a high-speed, arrow-straight railroad that was built with high fills, deep cuts, and towering bridges to achieve a low-grade route which passed high above the surrounding landscape. The term became popular during the 19th century and was a particular favorite of early interurban builders. However, as everyone soon realized, such a well-engineered line proved far too expensive to be built at a reasonable cost. The history of the Seaboard Air Line began long before acquiring its unique name.  It started humbly, as did most railroads in those days, to serve the Norfolk region. On March 8, 1832 the Portsmouth & Roanoke Rail Road (P&R) was granted a charter by the Virginia General Assembly to connect Portsmouth, Virginia with Weldon, North Carolina running in a southwesterly direction. The initial 17 miles opened to Suffolk on September 4, 1834.”
Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL): “Through The Heart Of The South”
https://www.american-rails.com/seaboard.html

“The Seaboard Coastline Building, a prominent landmark situated on the Portsmouth waterfront, has stood for nearly a century as a major symbol of rail transportation and land-and-sea commerce to the harbor city of Portsmouth, Virginia. Erected in 1894-95 and enlarged in 1914, the structure served as the northern terminus and office headquarters of the Seaboard Air Line until 1956. The significance of the railroad and, in particular, this northern terminal, to the commerce and industry of the region is indisputable: The Seaboard Air Line Railroad transported much of the vast southern cotton crop to the Portsmouth terminal, exchanging for fertilizer and other manufactured products from the north. The railroad provided access to the rich coalfields of West Virginia, the steel industry as far south as Birmingham, Alabama, and the fruit and produce groves of Florida. The strategic siting of the terminal and warehouses along the Portsmouth harbor provided a critical link to the north-south internal shipping route extending from New York to South Carolina, as well as a familiar landmark to the passenger ferries approaching from the neighboring harbors of Norfolk and Newport News.”
National Register of Historic Places — Nomination Form — Seaboard Coastline Building — Portsmouth, Virginia — 124-0053