Caldwell station

Caldwell station was the fourth of six stations on the Erie Railroad Caldwell Branch, located in Caldwell, New Jersey. The station was located on Bloomfield Avenue (County Route 506) just north-east of Caldwell College (now Caldwell University). The station opened in 1891 as the terminus of the Caldwell Railroad, a branch of the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad that forked off at Great Notch station in Little Falls, Passaic County.

Caldwell
The Caldwell station site in February 2014
LocationBloomfield Avenue (CR 506) Caldwell, New Jersey 07006
Coordinates40.8359°N 74.2714°W / 40.8359; -74.2714
Line(s)Caldwell Branch
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks2
Other information
Station code1757[1]
History
OpenedJune 20, 1891 (formal opening)[2]
July 4, 1891 (passenger opening)[2]
ClosedSeptember 30, 1966[3]
Rebuilt1904[4]
Key dates
August 6, 1965Station depot razed[5]
Former services
Preceding station Erie Railroad Following station
Essex Fells
Terminus
 Caldwell Branch Verona
toward Great Notch

Caldwell station was one of two stations in the borough, the other being located at the Monomonock Inn, a local hotel that closed in 1940.[6] Service was extended in 1891 to nearby Essex Fells. The original station in Caldwell, built in June 1891, was moved by horse to nearby Verona station in 1905 after the latter burned down. The railroad used 12 horses to get the depot, which was serving as a freight depot, down to Verona.[7]

Caldwell station existed through the end of service on the Caldwell Branch, when the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad discontinued service on September 30, 1966.[8] The borough had the station demolished a year prior on August 6, 1965.[5]

History

Caldwell station opened with the construction of the Caldwell Branch of the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad (a subsidiary of the Erie Railroad system). The original proposed service through Caldwell was the Caldwell Railroad, a company founded in March 1869 for the construction of a railroad between Montclair and Caldwell.[9] Construction began in 1872 of the railroad.[10] However, work on this route was suspended in 1872 due to the inability to complete a tunnel through Montclair and nearby Verona. About 2,000 feet (610 m) of the tunnel was left uncompleted.[11]

The railroad was built in 1891, with the route via Great Notch station in Little Falls.[2] As part of the construction, a depot, measured at 26 by 14 feet (7.9 m × 4.3 m), was built for the terminal of the new railroad.[12] Service on the railroad began on July 4, 1891.[2] Service, one year later, was extended to nearby Essex Fells.[13]

The former Caldwell station, built in 1891, serving as a depot for Verona in 1909

The station was replaced in 1904 as part of the construction of the Morristown and Caldwell Railroad. Construction of this new station cost the Erie Railroad $20,000 (1904 USD). The new station would do the work of the Erie Railroad and the Morristown and Caldwell Railroad.[4] This new depot was measured at 53 by 23 feet (16.2 m × 7.0 m).[12] On July 4, 1904, thirteen years after the commencement of service through Caldwell, the first train of the Morristown and Caldwell crossed through the borough.[14] The old station, built in 1891, was moved across the tracks, serving as a freight house.[7]

On January 9, 1905, the passenger station built at the nearby Verona station caught fire. The depot, along with its contents, were burned and lost.[15] The Erie Railroad decided to take the old station at Caldwell, serving as a freight depot, to become the new passenger depot at Verona. In February 1905, the snow-covered ground served as an opportunity to move the depot. With 12 horses, the old freight depot was moved up Bloomfield Avenue on rafters to Depot Street and Personette Street. This depot burned down in the winter of 1962.[7]

In July 1907, commuters were confused when they came to Caldwell station and found the doors locked. Henry Banta, the newly-appointed station agent, had left town and locked the station without telling anyone. When an employee from Pavonia Terminal came to Caldwell to open the station, they found everything in good condition with all books and details in place. Banta, like his predecessor, John I. Jacobus, is believed to have left due to the incredible amount of work it was taking with no assistant.[16]

In 1902, the Monomonock Inn, a local hotel and resort, opened on the east side of Prospect St, between Bloomfield Ave and Academy Rd. This helped influence the growth of Caldwell,[8] to the extent that by 1916, the inn itself had its own station on the Caldwell Branch.[1] The Inn was closed and razed in 1940, to be replaced by local housing and an A&P grocery store.[6] Local streetcar service, which ran next to the Caldwell station on Bloomfield Avenue ended in 1952.[8]

The borough of Caldwell purchased the depot in 1965 from the cash-strapped Erie Lackawanna Railroad.[8] (The Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad had merged on October 17, 1960, as they were both struggling financially.[17]) The borough razed the depot on August 6, 1965.[5] Service at Caldwell station ended on September 30, 1966, when multiple branch lines of the Erie Lackawanna were discontinued.[3]

Bibliography
  • Schwieterman, Joseph (2001). When the Railroad Leaves Town: American Communities in the Age of Rail Line Abandonment. Kirksville, Missouri: Truman State University Press. ISBN 9780943549989.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Yanosey, Robert J. (2006). Erie Railroad Facilities (In Color). Volume 1: New Jersey. Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Morning Sun Books Inc. ISBN 1-58248-183-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References
  1. "List of Station Names and Numbers". Jersey City, New Jersey: Erie Railroad. May 1, 1916. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  2. "Eagle Feathers". The Madison Eagle. June 26, 1891. p. 3. Retrieved March 13, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Yanosey 2006, p. 60.
  4. "Nearly Ready". The Madison Eagle. September 9, 1904. p. 6. Retrieved January 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Before...And After". The Herald-News. Passaic, New Jersey. August 10, 1965. p. 17. Retrieved April 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Monomonock Inn Being Town Down". The New York Times. January 7, 1940. p. 157. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  7. Williams, Robert L. (August 3, 2006). "Baggage House Only Reminder of Station". Verona-Cedar Grove Times. Verona, New Jersey. p. A9. Retrieved December 31, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Schwieterman 2001, p. 185.
  9. Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New-Jersey. I. Collins. 1871. pp. 1338–1339. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  10. "Railroad Program Next Wednesday". Verona-Cedar Grove Times. Verona, New Jersey. September 17, 2015. p. D1. Retrieved January 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "The Tunnel". The Bergen Evening Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. July 22, 1903. p. 1. Retrieved January 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. New Jersey. State Board of Assessors (1914). Annual Report of the State Board of Assessors of the State of New Jersey, Part 1. News Printing Company. pp. 399–401.
  13. Schwieterman 2001, p. 184.
  14. "Travel Over New Road". The Long Branch Record. August 5, 1904. p. 1. Retrieved January 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Verona Station Burned". The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. January 9, 1905. p. 7. Retrieved January 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Editorial Comments". The Paterson Morning Call. July 17, 1907. p. 4. Retrieved December 16, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Erie, DL&W Merger Effective Tomorrow". The Press-Sun and Bulletin. October 16, 1960. pp. A3-A4. Retrieved January 3, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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