This is an historical image of steam locomotive engine #1289 of the Southern Railway, which in 1894 acquired the historic AT&O (Atlantic, Tennessee and Ohio) Railroad that passes by Hobbs Hill Neighborhood and was later acquired by Norfolk-Southern Railroad. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, trains pulled by steam locomotive engines like this would pass thru the Town of Davidson daily in AM and PM as that became the primary mode of regional transportation during that time period. Imagine the train whistle and smoke/steam bellows as trains passed right by the land upon which Hobbs Hill and the adjacent Park at Beaty Street sit today, on their way to/from Davidson’s train depot just a few blocks away downtown to points beyond!
The attached Southern Railway passenger timetable from June 19, 1904 lists arrival and departure times. The additional images show the Davidson Depot in 1912 and a current 3D aerial image for orientation.
The AT&O Railroad Company was originally incorporated in 1855 (prior to the Civil War) and the railway connected the town to Charlotte initially in 1861 and subsequently Statesville, but then was partially dismantled for its rail/timber resources by the Confederacy. When reconstructed and re-opened after the Civil War, the railway eventually connected South Charlotte and Taylorsville as the South and North endpoints, respectively, of its line.