Rowe Street is an abandoned train station in the town of Bloomfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. The station was a former stop on the Boonton Line, which ran from

Hoboken Terminal Hoboken Terminal is a commuter-oriented intermodal passenger station in Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey. One of the New York metropolitan area's major transportation hubs, it is served by nine NJ Transit (NJT) commuter rail lines, one Metr ...

to Hackettstown, reaching Rowe Street in Bloomfield. The station was constructed by the

Erie Railroad The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Erie ...

in 1955 as a replacement for the Orchard Street station and the former

Bloomfield station Bloomfield is a New Jersey Transit station in Bloomfield, New Jersey along the Montclair-Boonton Line. The station is located in downtown Bloomfield, the second within the municipality, just west of Bloomfield Avenue. This is the second station ...

(at Walnut Street), which was eliminated for construction of the

Garden State Parkway The Garden State Parkway (GSP) is a controlled-access toll road that stretches the north–south length of eastern New Jersey from the state's southernmost tip near Cape May to the New York state line at Montvale. Its name refers to New Jersey ...

. Construction of the new depot began on April 1, 1955 of a single-story brick building. The construction of the depot and the 26-space parking lot cost $23,000 (1955

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

). Service to Rowe Street lasted for 47 years, until the construction of the

Montclair Connection The Montclair Connection is a short section of double-track railroad on the NJ Transit Rail Operations system in New Jersey, United States, connecting the former end of the Montclair Branch at Bay Street station to the old Boonton Line southeast ...

was completed by

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

, who had taken over service in 1983. Rowe Street, along with nearby Benson Street (in Glen Ridge) and Arlington (in Kearny), were closed on October 20, 2002 for the new Montclair-Boonton Line.

History

Orchard Street station

The establishment of a new depot at Orchard Street along the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway began in 1891. The city committee for constructing a new station announced that plans were out in September 1891 for a new station. They also announced the

, the company which owned the line, would accept a new station when constructed. They would also staff it with an agent. On March 23, 1892, a benefit fundraiser occurred for funding the new depot. Tickets would be 25 cents (1892

) to attend as they would collect donations and gifts for the cause. By doing this, they would offer the gifts off to raffle to attendees. The plot for the new station was to cost $4,000, located at the intersection of Orchard, Smith and Baylis Streets. The fundraiser raised $127. In the August 13, 1892 edition of ''The Bloomfield Citizen''

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, the station was completed by that date. The Erie promised a new station agent would have been stationed on August 1. However, by August 13, the station was closed still with no agent. On September 1, 1892, the Erie appointed William H. Flood as ticket agent for the Orchard Street station. The railroad superintendent, Moodey, announced that tickets would be available starting the week after. The new station proved to be a boon for the community, and considered convenient by local commuters. Development was quick in the area around the new station.

Closure

On September 20, 2002, the

opened, and the three Boonton Line stations closed. Today both platforms survive, as well as one of the tracks, which is unusable because it is partially paved over between this station and Arlington in Kearny.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowe Street (Njt Station) Former railway stations in New Jersey Former NJ Transit stations Former Erie Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1955 Railway stations closed in 2002 1955 establishments in New Jersey Bloomfield, New Jersey