West Concord Depot

Infobox Station
name = West Concord Depot
type = Commuter Rail
address = Commonwealth Ave & Main St
West Concord, MA 01742
coordinates = coord|42|27|22.94|N|71|23|32.54|W|type:railwaystation
line = rail color box|system=MBTA|line=Fitchburg
platform = side platforms
parking = 146 spaces, $2.00 fee,
3 accessible spaces
bicycle = 10 spaces
passengers = 460 [http://www.mbta.com/uploadedFiles/Business_Center/Bidding_and_Solicitations/Design_and_Construction/Report%20(1%20of%202).pdf]
opened = 1894
ADA = Yes
owned = Depot: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Parking: Town of Concord
zone = 5
former = Union Station
Concord Junction
services =Infobox nrhp
name = Union Station
nrhp_type =
locmapin = Massachusetts
mapwidth = 250
location = 20 Commonwealth Avenue
West Concord, Massachusetts
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 27
lat_seconds = 22.94
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 71
long_minutes = 23
long_seconds = 32.54
long_direction = W
area =
built = 1894
architect =
architecture = Queen Anne style
added = March 2, 1989Cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|accessdate=2007-10-26]
refnum = 89000143
governing_body =

West Concord Depot is a rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail system in West Concord, Massachusetts. The depot, which opened in 1894, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Location

West Concord Depot is located at 20 Commonwealth Avenue near the intersection of Main Street. Service to the station is provided by the Fitchburg Line from Boston to Fitchburg, Massachusetts both inbound and outbound.

History

The depot opened in 1894 as Union Station at the junction of the Fitchburg Railroad and Old Colony Railroad, in a section of Concord MA that was initially called Concord Junction.Cite web|url=http://www.concordma.com/magazine/spring07/westconcorddepot.html|last=Kehoe|first=Dorrie|title=Renewal of West Concord Depot|work=The Concord Magazine|year=2007|accessdate=2007-10-04] Eventually, the name of the station stop, and the section of town, was renamed West Concord. Both railroads were eventually merged into other railroad companies to create larger networks. The Fitchburgh Railroad became part of the Boston & Maine Railroad in 1900 while the Old Colony Railroad was absorbed into the New Haven Railroad. Regular passenger serivce on the New Haven Railroad portion of the line ceased in 1930s.

The depot is now owned by the MBTA, which purchased the passenger operations of the Boston & Main Railroad in 1976. [Cite web|url=http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/t_projects/?id=1012|title=MBTA > About the MBTA > Transit Projects|publisher=MBTA|accessdate=2007-10-04] The building houses an MBTA office, a restaurant, and a waiting room for morning rail passengers.

West Concord Depot is a Queen Anne style building which and it was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.Cite web|url=http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MA/Middlesex/vacant.html|title=National Register of Historic Places - MASSACHUSETTS (MA), Middlesex County|publisher=nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com|accessdate=2007-10-04] As of 2007, local residents and businesses along with the Town of Concord and the MBTA are working to restore the station exterior after years of decay. The original railroad diamond is located in the bricks on the former right of way of the New Haven Railroad. This right of way is scheduled to become the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.Cite web|url=http://www.concordnet.org/pages/concordma_news/preservationplan|work=2008 Community Preservation Plan|title=Town of Concord Update DRAFT June 21, 2007|pages=p. 69|publisher=Town of Concord|format=PDF|accessdate=2007-10-04]

Nearby destinations

*Emerson Hospital
*MCI-Concord

ee also

*List of Registered Historic Places in Concord, Massachusetts
*List of Registered Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

References

* [http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/stations/?stopId=222 MBTA > Commuter Rail > West Concord] . MBTA. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.

External links

* [http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/stations/?stopId=222 MBTA - West Concord]
* [http://naphotos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo=200701082247295961.jpg&byrail%3A20%3ABoston_&_Maine Concord Junction Marker] . Photo by Lisa McCauley January 7, 2007 at [http://naphotos.nerail.org/ The NERAIL North American Railroad Photo Archive] .