The Essex Freight Station is a railroad station located in the

Centerbrook Centerbrook is a hamlet located in the town of Essex, Connecticut Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,733 at the 2020 census. It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook, and ...

village of

Essex, Connecticut Essex is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,733 at the 2020 census. It is made up of three villages: Essex Village, Centerbrook, and Ivoryton. History The Great Attack Essex is one of the few A ...

. Built in 1915, it is a well-preserved example of period railroad-related architecture. It now serves as a station on the resurrected Connecticut Valley Railroad, which provides excursion steam train trips. The building 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 ...

on April 19, 1994.

Description and history

The Essex Freight Station is located at the southern end of Railroad Avenue, a spur road off

Connecticut Route 154 Route 154 is a state highway in Connecticut running for . It serves as one of the main thoroughfares in the town of Old Saybrook, intersecting twice with U.S. Route 1. North of I-95, Route 154 runs parallel to Route 9, along to the west bank o ...

just west of the limited access highway of

Connecticut Route 9 Route 9 is a , four-lane freeway beginning in Old Saybrook and ending at I-84 near the Farmington–West Hartford town line. It connects the Eastern Coastline of the state along with the Lower Connecticut River Valley to Hartford and the ...

. The setting includes the railyard, now used by the heritage Connecticut Valley Railroad, which includes operable early 20th-century equipment including switches and signals. The station is located on the west side of the railyard. It is a single-story wood-frame structure, with a low-pitch roof that has wide eaves supported by large brackets. Its walls are finished in vertical board siding on the lower part, and clapboards on the upper. The station was built in 1915 by the

New York, New Haven and Hartford 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 ...

along the former Connecticut Valley Railroad line, which had been serving the Connecticut River valley since 1871. The line saw passenger service along at least part of its line until 1933, and freight service until 1961, when the NYNH&H went bankrupt. A passenger station of similar appearance was originally located nearby, but was demolished. The station and yard were acquired in 1970 by the heritage Connecticut Valley Railroad, a nonprofit organization of railroad aficionados, which has been operating steam-powered excursion trains on portions of the CVR line since 1971.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Transport infrastructure completed in 1915 Transportation buildings and structures in Middlesex County, Connecticut Former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad stations Essex, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Connecticut Former railway stations in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References