Axton is a special place, for me, because I love making photographs of locations that today are far from what they once were. This very small town is located along the state line with North Carolina, near Martinsville, Virginia. Today there is an elementary school there which is part of the Henry County School System, a Fire and Rescue Station, some retail convenience stores, a few old buildings-some occupied and some not, and many small farms. The old water tower there definitely caught my eye.
Once, a train line passed through and stopped at this station. I walked around it, thinking about what it was like when a train approached on rails now gone.
There was a furniture store here at one time, now empty, and a Post Office building that to me looks like an old bank. It’s now being used to sell various items.
Lastly, the farming nature of the area is easy to spot by some vacant farm homes, barns and other structures.
Like I wrote earlier, Axton is a special place for me … and my camera.
Sharing My Joy 
A very special look to the days gone by. Think what a bustling community this once was, where everyone knew everyone and their entire family history. Special indeed. Nice job.
Axton well now live forever because a photographer took the time to record it’s Storie. Well done Michael
I adore your photographs. They are very beautiful compositions. I like your written descriptions too. I would not have known that was a train station. Your musings stir me to wonder if my ancestors waited for a train at that old station, in the days when that train station was new. My grandfather was born and raised in Danville VA – his mother’s family had a farm in Axton. I’ve never been there, and I very much enjoy being able to see artistic glimpses of what the place looks like now. I can research old newspaper clippings to get a sense of what the area was like, but your wonderful photos bring it to life for me. Thank you!
I really appreciate your kind comments and interest in local history. I also love that, all over SW Virginia and NW North Carolina.
This is great. My paternal grandmother was born in Axton in 1916 into the Gravely family. They farmed tobacco. I was born and raised in Virginia Beach and have never been to Axton, but have often wondered what it looked like. Grandma told me stories of a large outdoor pool (water park?) in that area. I wonder if an ruins remain. Thank you for these photos!
Stumbled across these photos here in 2021. That railroad depot went though many transitions, it was a Southern States feed store for years after the trains stopped serving Axton. Immediately behind that Furniture store was ( I doubt it is still there) a larget Victorian house that served as a boarding house in the 1940s and 1950s. My parents had lodgings there while they built their house right along Route 58 a few miles away. My father was a founding member and very active in the volunteer fire dept.
Thanks for documenting the area in photos.
Thanks for commenting. You are the second person who saw my photos and who had a lot of first hand knowledge to add. I really appreciate all that because I am very interested in the history of this part of Virginia.