Highland Falls Railroad Depot

Highland Falls Railroad Depot
A light yellow building with dark red roof and trim and a brick chimney at the center seen from one of its corners. At bottom right is an overhanging roof with a sign on it saying "Highland Falls". In the rear is a large body of water.
West profile and south elevation, 2008
Location Highland Falls, NY
Coordinates 41°22′27″N 73°57′39″W / 41.37417°N 73.96083°WCoordinates: 41°22′27″N 73°57′39″W / 41.37417°N 73.96083°W
Area 1.2 acres (4,900 m2)
Built 1882[1]
Architect West Shore Railroad
Architectural style Shingle Style
Governing body Private residence
MPS Hudson Highlands MRA (see Hudson Highlands MRA)
NRHP Reference # 82001218[2]
Added to NRHP November 23, 1982

The Highland Falls Railroad Depot in Highland Falls, New York, is a former West Shore Railroad train station built in the 1880s. It was later used by the New York Central Railroad. Since the mid-20th century it has been used as a residence; the tracks are still used as a freight line.

It is, along with the Milton station to the north in Ulster County, one of the few remaining original West Shore Railroad passenger stations. Its Shingle Style architecture is the most sophisticated example of that mode in the village. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Building

The station building is located west of the tracks, currently used by CSX's Hudson River Subdivision, at the foot of Station Hill Road where it descends from downtown Highland Falls to the river. It is on a 1.2-acre (4,900 m2) sliver-shaped lot with no other development nearby and high stony bluffs to the west. To the east are the docks of a marina run from the property.[1]

The building itself is a two-story frame building sided in two types of shingles on the second story and clapboard below, with wooden courses dividing the different sidings and then running at water table level on the first story. The pyramidal roof is pierced by a central brick chimney and three gabled dormer windows. Their ridges, as well as the roof, have decorative crockets.[1]

A central pavilion projects from the north. On the east a shed roof shelters the former platform both north and south of the building. Two small lean-tos are on the north and west.[1]

History

The railroad was built through the area in 1882, and the station first appears in maps not long afterwards, in 1891. Many of the workers who had built the railroad and the station settled in nearby neighborhoods, swelling the population of what had primarily been a summer resort community and the nearest town to the United States Military Academy. The station's highly decorative use of the Shingle Style is the best example of it in the village.[1]

Passenger service ended around 1950. The station was then converted into a residence, retaining most of the original features.[1]

The village attempted to negotiate with the current owners to purchase property and preserve the only public access to the river within its limits. After those broke down in early 2006, the village received a $350,000 state grant. The owners say they will not sell to the village, who they argued had bungled the deal.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Barry, Elise (March 29, 2982). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Highland Falls Railroad Depot". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved July 23, 2010. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  3. ↑ Bruno, Greg (September 8, 2006). "Grant won't salvage village marina deal". Times-Herald Record (Middletown, NY: News Corporation). Retrieved July 23, 2010.
Preceding station   New York Central Railroad   Following station
Fort Montgomery
toward Weehawken
West Shore Route
West Point
toward Albany