Planted in the middle of South MacNair Street, steps from the promenade rounding the waterfront Moss Landing townhomes, sits a modest building. Over the years, it’s been a café, a succession of small grocery stores, a meeting place for Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s both sat empty and briefly served as a home.

These days, it’s found its groove in its roots. In 1913, it opened as the Norfolk Southern Café, and now the small coffee house has earned recognition for its preservation over the past 100 years, in its many forms.

The Coffee Caboose has been awarded the Rena K. Terrell Award for a commercial property — an award given to property owners by the City of Washington in recognition of their actively involvement in historic preservation.

And if anyone knows her history, it’s Mary Anne Nunnally Foy, owner of the Coffee Caboose.

“I was thrilled, excited, delighted — not for me, but for the building,” Foy said of winning the award.

The Coffee Caboose is a treasure trove of Washington and railroad history. The walls are covered with memorabilia: Norfolk Southern railroad schedule, photos of depots across eastern North Carolina, images of the little store throughout its incarnations and pictures of animals exiting train cars, gathering on MacNair Street before being paraded through the streets on the circus’ visit to town.

It was in the 1930s that Foy’s grandfather, James Russ, purchased the building, after the Norfolk Southern Café closed. Through the 1930s and ‘40s, it became Jackson’s, Banks’ and Watkins’ grocery stores — Mrs. Jackson actually lived in the back room of the store and raised chickens on the property, according to Foy.

“It finally kind of went into disrepair — this was in the 1950s,” Foy said.

When Foy’s parents inherited it in the 1960s, they offered it to a local AA group to use for its meetings. When ownership passed to Foy, she, with the help of a friend, Jennifer Alligood, transformed the space into the Coffee Caboose, slapping a coat of dark red paint on the exterior and filling the interior with gourmet coffee, teas, Italian sodas and baked treats.

“A beautiful patio with tables and chairs was recently constructed, enticing customers to sit and enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery Washington has to offer. The maintenance and upkeep continues with the creation of a flower garden adorning the patio area, all the while keeping with the theme of railroad days gone by with the little red building known as the Coffee Caboose. This building has been in the same family for 92 years. It is filled with laughter, love and great conversations. Also, the coffee isn’t bad either,” wrote Kathy Wallace Hardy in a recommendation of the Coffee Caboose.

Foy and Alligood have more plans for the Coffee Caboose, ones that combine past and present: they’re renovating a barn behind the building as a bakery and already have USDA approval to add goods baked onsite to their menu.

It’s just the type of place, and work, that Hardy believes Terrell would have appreciated.

“I can picture Terrell visiting the proprietors that occupied the building, at one time or another, throughout her years on Main Street. I imagine her strolling around the community she was very proud of, speaking to folks on their front porches, as she admired the beauty of Main Street that each season brought,” Hardy wrote.

Terrell was a founding member of Washington Historic Preservation Commission, as well as being author of the East Main Street neighborhood magazine, “The East Ender.” Devoted to preserving historic resources and assets, Terrell was also a member of the state Historic Preservation Foundation, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, as well as board member of the Historic Albemarle Tour.

The Coffee Caboose is the first of the Rena K. Terrell Awards. In addition to the award for a commercial property, a residential property and a “Good Neighbor” project are also recognized and will be featured in future home sections of the Washington Daily News.

For now, Foy continues to run a coffeehouse that’s bustling with business. At this point, it’s a tradition.

“I mean, I’m telling you: this building has been going for 102 years — it rocks,” Foy laughed.

The Coffee Caboose is located at 111 S. MacNair St. and opens at 6:30 a.m.