Yorktown Heights Railroad Station
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Yorktown Heights station is a former railroad station on the Putnam Line in
Yorktown Heights, New York Yorktown Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Yorktown, New York, Yorktown in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The popula ...
, United States. It is a wooden building located on Commerce Street at the intersection of Underhill Avenue in Railroad Park. The station was originally built in 1877 by the New York, Westchester and Putnam Railway along a line originally installed by the New York and Boston Railroad that is today a
rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
. It is one of the only three left in
Westchester County Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
, and one of only two in that scale and style. In 1981, it was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
as Yorktown Heights Railroad Station, the only property listed in the town.


Building

The station is located in a small park in the center of Yorktown. The railroad's
right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...
, now the
North County Trailway The North County Trailway is a long paved rail trail stretching from Eastview to Baldwin Place in Westchester County, New York. It is also part of the statewide Empire State Trail. History and route The North County Trailway was constructe ...
, runs just to its south. It is paved in pink stone, with a connection to the base of the station. The building itself is a small one-story
frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
structure. It is sided in board and
batten A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields. In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...
on the lower half of its facades and
clapboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...
above. A combination of vertical dividers between sections and a horizontal course over the
water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...
give it a half-timber effect. The roof, with deep bracketed overhangs, is both
gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
d and hipped, covered in slate shingles. an
''Accompanying four photos, exterior and interior, from 1977''
/ref> Bays project on the west and south. The windows, currently, have plain wood surrounds. A brick chimney rises on the north (rear). Inside the building is divided into two spaces, a waiting room (including the ticket office) on the south and baggage room in the north. The former has floor-to-ceiling oak paneling, oak floors, benches, with deep brackets on the ticket room
cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
as well as the shelf at the window. A double
Dutch door A Dutch door (American English), stable door (British English), or half door (Hiberno-English), is a door divided in such a fashion that the bottom half may remain shut while the top half opens. They were known in early New England as double-hung ...
leads to the baggage room, where a bathroom has been created by partitioning.


History

Two prominent citizens of Yorktown, Edward Underhill and Charles Whitney, brought what was then the New York and Boston Railroad to the town in 1872. The station and a store were built five years later. By the 1880s the railroad station was the center of town, surrounded by five stores, a school, a hotel, two locksmiths, a wheelwright and two churches. The line and the station were later acquired by
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 ...
in 1894 when it took over the Old Put. In 1902 it acquired land and built a coach yard, an engine service facility. It was a site of the connection to the Mohansic Branch to
Mohansic State Hospital Mohansic State Hospital (also known as the Mohansic State Insane Asylum, and the Mohansic State Hospital for the Insane) was a hospital which existed near Yorktown Heights in Westchester County, New York. History On October 17, 1909, the State Com ...
, now the site of
Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park Franklin D. Roosevelt State Park is a state park in Westchester County, New York. Formerly known as Mohansic Park and Mohansic State Park, it is situated in Yorktown, approximately from New York City. The park was created in 1922 on the form ...
, until 1917. The station was closed in 1958, a year before passenger service was abandoned along the Putnam Line. Freight service was abandoned in 1962 between East Falls and
Mahopac Mahopac ( or ) is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the town of Carmel in Putnam County, New York, United States. Also known as Lake Mahopac, the exurb is located some north of New York City, on US Route 6 at the county's southern centr ...
. The town bought the station in 1966 as part of its
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
efforts. Initially the plan was to relocate it for use as a bus station, but in 1975 that was changed. It remained on site and was
restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...
with the intent of using it as a museum and office of the local
Chamber of Commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
. In 2020, historic restoration work funded by a federal grant through the
New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports, waterways and aviation facilities in ...
was completed for the entire interior and exterior of the building.Yorktown News
“‘Old Put’ Railroad Station Restored to Original Glory”
2020-07-17. The town intends to use the former station as a visitor’s center for patrons of the North County
Rail Trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Westchester County, New York __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Westchester County, New York, excluding the city of Peekskill, which has its own list. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and distric ...


References


External links


Friends of the Yorktown DepotExisting Railroad Stations in Westchester County, New YorkClemco Construction: 2020 Historic Restoration of Yorktown Heights Railroad Station
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Railway stations in the United States opened in 1877 Railway stations closed in 1958 National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York Former New York Central Railroad stations Former railway stations in New York (state) Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Railway stations in Westchester County, New York 1877 establishments in New York (state) 1958 disestablishments in New York (state)