The C&O Index of Stations and Tunnels (1943, updated to 1969) located Bakers Creek about 1 mile west of Gordonsville, but noted that the station did not appear on the official station list in 1928. The 1963 track charts show a bridge (#1619) and a pump house there. The bridge most likely spans one of the many tributaries of the South Anna River that flow through the area and that stream is, perhaps, called Bakers Creek. That last bit is pure speculation; I’ve not been able to locate a stream by that name on any Virginia map I’ve got access to. The U.S.G.S. map of Gordonsville does show a small stream at the right place, but doesn’t name it.

I recently obtained a copy of the C&O’s Chesapeake Region Bridge Book which clarifies the location somewhat. The bridge over Bakers Creek was at milepost 161.9 - nearly a mile from what I had previously thought.

I feel fairly confident in this hunch, though. A Martin Baker purchased part the Gordon land (including the tavern, see the Gordonsville page) in the fall of 1830. Baker then acted as the post master for Gordonsville and Baker Street still exists in Gordonsville. Also, as late as 1903, Carver’s Mill still stood near Gordonsville. Carver’s Mill had previously been Baker’s Mill. It seems possible that a small stream called Baker’s Creek flowed across the Baker lands and powered their mill and that, later, it provided water for the C&O’s locomotives.

On a recent trip to the area I located the Bakers Creek bridge. I also discovered that Bakers Creek is now the site of the Klöckner Pentaplast plant that was just built a few years ago.

	This is bridge #1619, the Bakers Creek bridge. To the left is a large pond that very well could be my hypothesized mill pond. The creek flows under the bridge and past part of the large Klöckner Pentaplast plant. (November, 2002 photo)
	This is the pond on the west side of the tracks in Bakers Creek. The creek feeds into the pond across from the tracks and exits under the bridge shown above. (November, 2002 photo)
	This image is from a postcard labeled Baker’s Pond, Gordonsville, VA. The card was mailed in July 1917 to a Master Karl Engle who was staying at the Exchange Hotel in Mt. Joy, Pennsylvania. The writer (F. Swain Wingfield) wrote, “This is the pond where Gordonsville boys bathe. We have no creek or river.” (From the collection of Larry Z. Daily)

	At milepost 162 a siding now splits from the main to serve the Klöckner Pentaplast plant. Though the plant was built long after the C&O had passed from existence, CSX delivers loads there. (November, 2002 photo)

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