Winn Transportation and Winn Bus Lines

The Dream Becomes a Business

Winn Bus Lines entered the business world in March, 1958, when George Minor Winn signed the company's articles of incorporation. With $500 in cash loaned to him by his former Trailways boss, Claude Jessup. Winn, the father of four would give birth to what was to become one of Richmond's most recognized and beloved companies. Few companies are as closely identified with Richmond, Virginia as Winn Bus Lines.

As with most great enterprises, Winn Bus Lines beginnings were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. The earliest record of a charter was a line run from Richmond to Charlottesville in 1958. With the company's first route came hope—a young Winn Bus Lines had taken its first steps.

Acquisition of Virginia's oldest bus company

Perhaps the most notable accomplishment was the purchase of Virginia's oldest bus company, Virginia Stage Lines in 1966. Virginia Stage Lines was incorporated in 1925 and joined the Trailways family in 1938. Oddly enough, the man who had loaned George Winn the money to start Winn Bus Lines (Claude Jessup) was the president of Virginia Stage Lines. With the acquisition of Virginia Stage Lines, Winn Bus Lines became the oldest continually operated bus company in the Commonwealth of Virginia and holds that distinction to this day.

Becoming a National Company

In the 50's came air-conditioning and restrooms aboard buses. This was followed by radios and entertainment systems in the 1980's. The advancement to computer controlled engines and a movement toward new engine applications has taken the industry to a whole new level.

Winn Bus Lines started in the last century with a single man envisioning transportation that would meet the needs of people in a small part of Virginia. Today, Winn Bus Lines is still a family owned and operated business consisting of motorcoaches, minicoaches, vans, shuttles, transit buses, limousines, executive sedans, trolleys and a tour division. The company is beginning its next half century with a mid-atlantic organization that retains and expands George Winn's heritage by continuing in a tradition of family values and modes of transportation that serve the varying and ever-changing needs of people across the country.