Union Station (Chatham, New York)

Chatham
Chatham Station with stationmaster's bow window
Station statistics
Address	99 Depot Square Chatham, New York 12037
Lines	New York and Harlem Railroad
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Other information
Opened	1887
Closed	March 22, 1972 (passengers) March 1976 (freight)
Owned by	Town of Chatham
Services
Former service     Preceding station   New York Central Railroad   Following station Ghent toward Grand Central Harlem Line Terminus
Union Station U.S. National Register of Historic Places Location: 99 Depot Square Chatham, New York Coordinates: 42°21′43″N 73°35′49″W / 42.36194°N 73.59694°W / 42.36194; -73.59694Coordinates: 42°21′43″N 73°35′49″W / 42.36194°N 73.59694°W / 42.36194; -73.59694 Architect: Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge[1] Architectural style: Richardsonian Romanesque NRHP Reference#: 74001225 Added to NRHP: May 1, 1974[1]

Union Station served the residents of Chatham, New York from 1887 to 1972 as a passenger station and until 1976 as a freight station. It was the final stop for Harlem Line trains. It had originally served trains of the Boston and Albany Railroad, then the New York Central Railroad and the Rutland Railways. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and currently serves as a bank branch. It no longer serves as a train station, although the rail line it is alongside of is still active.

History

Before the station house was built rail service to Chatham started on December 21, 1841 when the first portion of the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad was put into service between Greenbush (east of Albany) and Chatham. The Harlem Extension of the New York and Harlem Railroad was built to Chatham by 1869.^[2] By late 1870 a series of company mergers led to the formation of the Boston and Albany Railroad (B&A). In 1881 the B&A hired Henry Hobson Richardson to design several stations for the railroad. Richardson died unexpectedly in 1886 and the remaining station design work was transferred to the Boston based architecture firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge.^[1] They designed the Chatham Station which was opened for service along the B&A's Boston to Albany line in 1887.^[3][4] The Richardsonian Romanesque building features a Dutch gable roof with wide eaves and colonnade porticos that extend out east and west along the tracks over the low platform. The walls are made of lightly colored rusticated stone with window and door frames, sills, and lintels of contrasting brownstone. A prominent bow window faces trackside and once was used as part of the stationmaster's office.

The New York Central Railroad (NYCRR) took over the B&A in 1900. The station house was originally staffed by a ticket agent, but the ticket office was closed by the NYCRR in 1960. It remained as an active station for passenger service until March 22, 1972. Under the aegis of Conrail, the station was closed in March 1976 when freight operations from Ghent to Millerton were terminated.

Conrail utilized the station for storage in the mid-1970s. In 1977, the freight railroad attempted to sell the station and surrounding land for $85,000. Chatham Union Station is currently owned by the National Union Bank of Kinderhook.

Service on the Rutland ended in 1953; tracks were dismantled shortly thereafter.^[5] The removal of the NYCRR's Harlem Line trackage south of Church Street followed 30 years later. Boston and Albany Railroad trackage remains in place and is currently used by CSX Transportation. The line was single-tracked by Conrail in the late 1980s.

Chatham Union Station has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since May 1, 1974.^[1] In addition to active freight service, Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited long-distance train passes through Chatham without stopping.

The station house was renovated and reopened in 1999 to serve as a branch of the National Union Bank of Kinderhook.^[6][7] Currently, the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association has plans to extend the trail along the right-of-way in front of the site of the former station.^[8]

See also

• List of union stations

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Columbia County Listings on the National Register of Historic Places
2. ^ Ellis, Capt. Franklin (1878). "Public Thoroughfares, Chatham, Columbia, County, New York". http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/columbia/chatham/thoroughfares.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
3. ^ Dahl, John C. (December 6, 2001). "Great Railroad Stations - Chatham, NY". In Dent, Jim. http://www.trainweb.org/rshs/GRS%20-%20Chatham,%20NY.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
4. ^ "Railroads from Albany to Connecticut". http://www.kinglyheirs.com/NewYorkStateRailroads/Harlem1.html#Chatham. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
5. ^ "History (Remembering the Rutland)". 27 May 2002. http://users.rcn.com/jimdu4/history.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-09. 
6. ^ "About Chatham, NY - Chatham Business Alliance". http://www.chathambusinessalliance.org/Chatham.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-08. 
7. ^ "Kinderhook Bank: Locations and hours". http://www.nubk.com/a_locations.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-08. 
8. ^ Harlem Valley Rail Trail map

External links

• "Town of Chatham, New York: Historical Information". http://www.chathamnewyork.us/History.html. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
• Chatham, Former Terminus of the Harlem Division, Photos Then and Now