Mars station is a historic train station in

Mars, Pennsylvania Mars is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in southern Butler County, Pennsylvania, Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,458 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is part of the Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh ...

. It was constructed in 1897 by the

Pittsburgh and Western Railroad The Pittsburgh and Western Railroad was a nineteenth-century, narrow gauge railroad connecting Pittsburgh with coal supplies and the oil field around Titusville, Pennsylvania. Its right-of way formed the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Rai ...

. For nearly fifty years, the station served the community by helping to transport freight and passengers in the area. The station is located halfway between the cities of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, and

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

History

The station was originally located at , near the intersection of Marshall Way and West Railroad Avenue. During the 1920s, a freight train derailed and crashed into the station, which knocked it off its

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

. The station would eventually be repaired. A few years later, residents gathered around the station and tracks to witness President

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

funeral train A funeral train carries a coffin or coffins (caskets) to a place of interment by train, railway. Funeral trains today are often reserved for leaders, national heroes, or government officials, as part of a state funeral, but in the past were som ...

passing by on its way to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The station closed down in the early 1960s, and it would sit vacant until the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s the station was once again in use by the railroad and there was an agent located at the station. The agent that was at the station when it finally closed was J.T. Scott. After it closed again in the early 1980s it would remain closed. Through many donations it was relocated and restored at its current site in the borough in August 1999, and in 2000, the Mars Historical Society purchased the station; it is now a museum. According to Railpace Newsmagazine, the Mars station is the last station still standing on the

P&W Subdivision The P&W Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation, the Allegheny Valley Railroad (AVR), and the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad (BPRR) in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The line runs from Rankin north through Pittsbu ...

. In 2006, the Mars Train Station was featured on

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

as part of the ''

Save Our History ''Save Our History'' is a television program sponsored by The History Channel. It is a national history education and preservation program that raises awareness and support for preserving local and national heritage. It partnered with Preserve Ame ...

'' program.

References

Former railway stations in Pennsylvania Railway stations in the United States opened in 1897 Former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad stations Transportation buildings and structures in Butler County, Pennsylvania {{Pennsylvania-railstation-stub