The 138th Street station was a station on the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

and Hudson Lines of the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

, serving the community of

Mott Haven Mott Haven is an American primarily residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of the Bronx. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are East 149th Street to the north, the Bruckner E ...

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was the southernmost station along both branches until 1973. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad also ran through this station but did not stop here.

History

The

New York and Harlem Railroad The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and was the world's first street railway. Designed by John Stephenson, it was opened in stages between 1832 and ...

expanded their main line across the Harlem River through Mott Haven into Williams Bridge from a bridge built in 1841. This bridge would be replaced in 1867, 1897, and 1956. A station named Mott Haven was known to exist as far back as 1858. The station was rebuilt in a much more elaborate fashion in 1886, with the construction of a

Richardson Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

structure designed by Robert Henderson Robertson, and was hailed as "the finest and most complete way station in the country". Originally at street level, the tracks were later raised above ground level as part of a grade elimination project in order to accommodate the 1897 version of the Park Avenue Bridge. A major grade elimination project in the Bronx north of the station also took place between 1888 and 1890. Throughout most of the station's existence, it has been in relatively close proximity to mass transit. In 1887, the

Suburban Rapid Transit Company The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue Elevated, Third Avenue El, or Bronx El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by the New York Elevated Railway, an independent railwa ...

built

a station , known professionally as , is a Japanese actor, creative director, and writer. He appeared in a number of Japanese TV dramas, including ''Mei-chan no Shitsuji'', ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'' and ''Zettai Kareshi''. Additionally, he was well kn ...

along the Third Avenue Elevated several blocks to the east. By 1918, its successor, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company expanded the IRT Jerome Avenue Line south from 149th Street to the

Lexington Avenue Tunnel Lexington may refer to: Places England * Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington Canada * Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario United States * Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name * Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...

into the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in

, and built a subway station beneath the vicinity of the railroad station. The subway station still exists. 149th_Street_-_Grand_Concourse_to_never_built_NYCRR_Station

149th_Street_-_Grand_Concourse_to_never_built_NYCRR_Station

During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, New York Central had proposed to build a new station in Mott Haven eleven blocks to the north at 149th Street, just south of Mott Haven Junction. Mosaics at the 149th Street–Grand Concourse subway station complex direct commuters to this proposed station which was never built. Only the tunnel to the station was built and was closed by the New York City Transit Authority. Declining ridership following World War II, along with the decline of the South Bronx led to the demolition of the previous structure in 1966, and the replacement with little more than sheltered platforms. As with other NYC stations in the Bronx, 138th Street became a

Penn Central The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American Railroad classes, class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania Railroad ...

station once the NYC &

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

s merged in 1968. Penn Central acquired the

New Haven Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to December 31, 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

in 1969, but the New Haven still never stopped there. However, because of the railroad's serious financial distress following the merger, commuter service was turned over to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1972. The station was closed by Penn Central on July 2, 1973, along with Morrisania, and 183rd Street stations in the

South Bronx The South Bronx is an area of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...

. Hagstrom's Street Map of The Bronx; 1943 (War of Yesterday)
/ref> The site of the station is today a location of a local community garden.

References

External links

The Lost Train Station of the Bronx – 138th Street, Mott Haven (I Ride the Harlem Line)
{{NYC Main Line stations Former railway stations in New York (state) Former New York Central Railroad stations Railway stations in the Bronx Railway stations in the United States opened in 1858 Railway stations closed in 1972 Mott Haven, Bronx