North Easton station
{{Short description|Proposed train station in North Easton, Massachusetts}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox station
| style = New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
| name = North Easton
| image = North Easton station from the southwest, June 2017.JPG
| image_caption = The former station building in 2017
| coordinates = {{coord|42|4|9.37|N|71|6|11.95|W|display=inline,title}}
| address = 80 Mechanic Street
| borough = North Easton, Easton, Massachusetts
| line = Dighton and Somerset Railroad
| other =
| tracks = 1
| closed = September 5, 1958{{cite book |title=A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses |last=Roy |first=John H. Jr. |publisher=Branch Line Press |year=2007 |isbn=9780942147087 |pages=204–205}}
| rebuilt = 1881
| owned = Easton Historical Society
| zone =
| passengers =
| pass_year =
| other_services_header = Former services
| other_services_collapsible = yes
| other_services = {{Adjacent stations|system=New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad
|line1=New Bedford|right1=Easton|left1=Stoughton
|line2=Fall River|right2=Easton|left2=Stoughton
|line3=Fall River|right3=Easton|left3=South Stoughton|note-mid3=via Randolph
}}
| other_services2_collapsible = yes
| other_services2_header=Proposed services
| other_services2={{Adjacent stations|system=MBTA|line=South Coast Rail|left=Raynham Place|right=North Easton|note-mid=Phase 2}}
| nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP
| name = North Easton Railroad Station
| embed = yes
| nrhp_type = nhldcp
| nrhp_type2 = cp
| nocat = yes
| image = Old Colony Railroad Station.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = North Easton station in 1890
| coordinates =
| nearest_city =
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-custom = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail |marker-color=#{{rcr|MBTA|Rail}} |zoom=12 }}
| area =
| built = 1881
| architect = H. H. Richardson
| architecture =
| designated =
| designated_nrhp_type = December 23, 1987
| designated_nrhp_type2 = November 3, 1972
| established =
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| partof_refnum = 87002598
| partof = H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton
| mpsub =
}}
}}
North Easton station is a former railroad station designed by noted American architect H. H. Richardson. It is located just off Oliver Street in North Easton, Massachusetts, and currently houses the Easton Historical Society. The station was built in 1881 and served commuter trains until 1958. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as Old Colony Railroad Station. In 1987, it also became part of the H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton, a National Historic Landmark District. Restoration of passenger rail services to the site have been proposed as part of Phase 2 of the South Coast Rail project.
History
The Easton Branch Railroad opened from Stoughton to North Easton on May 16, 1855. Originally part of the Boston and Providence Railroad, it became part of the Dighton and Somerset Railroad in 1866.
A new station was commissioned in 1881 by Frederick Lothrop Ames, director of the Old Colony Railroad, during the same year that Richardson designed the Ames Gate Lodge for his nearby estate. Frederick Law Olmsted landscaped its grounds. It is a relatively small station, a single story in height with Richardson's characteristic heavy masonry and outsized roof. Its long axis runs north-south with the tracks, now disused, along its west side. The building is laid out symmetrically within, with a large passenger room at each end (one for women, the other for men).
The station's facade is constructed of rough-faced, random ashlar of gray granite with a brownstone belt course and trim. Two large, semicircular arches punctuate each of the long facades, inset with windows and doorways, and ornamented with carvings of a beast's snarling head; a further semicircular arch projects to form the east facade's porte-cochere. Eaves project deeply over all sides, supported by plain wooden brackets.{{Cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/ma/ma0600/ma0632/data/ma0632data.pdf |title=Old Colony Railroad Station |last=Cummings |first=Abbott L. |date=January 1960 |website=Historic American Buildings Survey |publisher=Library of Congress |location=Washington, D.C. |page=2 |accessdate=March 1, 2014}}
File:Figure 3.2-23 Easton Village Station Conceptual Station Design.png
Commuter rail service past Stoughton was cut on September 5, 1958. In 1969, the Ames family purchased the property from the Penn Central Railroad and gave it to the historical society. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. In 1987, it also became part of the H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton, a National Historic Landmark District.
A new MBTA Commuter Rail station, Easton Village, was proposed to be built at the site as part of full-build (Phase 2) plans for the South Coast Rail project. Preliminary designs from 2014 include a {{Convert|800|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} high-level platform across the track from the historic building.{{cite web |url=https://www.nae.usace.army.mil/Portals/74/docs/topics/SouthCoastRail/VolII/3AlternativesFigures.pdf |work=Volume II: FEIS/FEIR Figures Final Environmental Impact Statement/Final Environmental Impact Report on the South Coast Rail Project proposed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation |title=Figure 3.2-23 Easton Village Station Proposed Reconstruction |date=August 2013 |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District |access-date=23 July 2014}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Commons category-inline}}
- {{HABS |survey=MA-663 |id=ma0632 |title=Old Colony Railroad Station, North Easton, Bristol County, MA |photos=4 |data=4}}
- [http://www.eastonhistoricalsociety.org/ Easton Historical Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209094723/http://www.eastonhistoricalsociety.org/ |date=February 9, 2009 }}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts}}
Category:Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts
Category:Henry Hobson Richardson buildings
Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1855
Category:Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Massachusetts
Category:Buildings and structures in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Category:Former Old Colony Railroad stations
Category:Easton, Massachusetts
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Category:Former railway stations in Massachusetts
Category:Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
Category:1855 establishments in Massachusetts
Category:MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Bristol County, Massachusetts
Category:Railway stations scheduled to open in 2030
Category:Proposed MBTA Commuter Rail stations
Category:Railway stations in the United States closed in 1958