Murray Hill station (NJ Transit)

Murray Hill is a New Jersey Transit station along the Gladstone Branch of the Morris and Essex Lines in the Murray Hill section of New Providence, in Union County, New Jersey, United States. It is located on Foley Place, between Floral Avenue and Southgate Road.

Murray Hill
Murray Hill station as seen in September 2020.
Location	Foley Plaza, between Floral Avenue and Southgate Road, Murray Hill, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°41′41″N 74°24′13″W
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Connections	NJT Bus: 986
Construction
Parking	Yes
Architectural style	Stick/Eastlake
Other information
Station code	703 (Delaware, Lackawanna and Western)[1]
Fare zone	10[2]
History
Opened	January 29, 1872[3]
Rebuilt	1889[4]
Electrified	January 6, 1931[5]
Passengers
2017	572 (average weekday)[6][7]
Services
Preceding station NJ Transit Following station Berkeley Heights toward Gladstone Gladstone Branch New Providence toward New York Penn Station or Hoboken
Former services Preceding station Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Following station Berkeley Heights toward Gladstone Gladstone Branch New Providence toward Hoboken
Murray Hill Station
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	0.5 acres (0.20 ha)
MPS	Operating Passenger Railroad Stations TR
NRHP reference No.	84002826[8][9]
Added to NRHP	June 22, 1984
Location

History

View of the station house.

The Queen Anne-style station house was built in 1890 by the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad. The identifying stylistic features of the station are the hipped roof with broadly-flared eaves which are supported by dramatic, oversized, decorative wooden brackets, the patterning of the horizontal exterior wood siding and vertical corner boards and multi-paned double-hung sash windows. The building lacks the lavish embellishment typical of Queen Anne buildings, however, and possesses a simplicity attributable to the Stick Style, an architectural trend that immediately pre-dated the rise in popularity of the Queen Anne fashion in the late nineteenth century. The building has been listed in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places since 1984 and is part of the Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource.[8][9][10]

In 1982, a group of local volunteers stripped the many layers of paint off down to the wood and properly added coats of primer and the classic green color the station maintained for years. This effort was spearheaded by Arthur Braunschweiger, whose family owned a jewelry store in New Providence.

On March 23, 2013, the floor boards of the waiting room were completely replaced. It isn't clear if the flooring that was removed was the original wood, though at the time it was obvious that it had been in place for several decades judging by the wear and appearance. Of note, there was a metal plate on the eastern side of the floor where a stove once sat to provide heat for the waiting room. Though the stove was removed long ago, the plate remained until the flooring replacement. The rest of the station interior was left untouched during this maintenance.

Station layout

The station has one long, low-level side platform that is long enough for 5 cars. Murray Hill station features one of four remaining bypass tracks on the Gladstone branch to allow for opposing-direction trains to pass each other (most commonly observed hourly during weekend schedule operation). To allow for passengers to get on or off trains on the bypass track, there is a small wood platform near the middle of the main platform which crosses over the main track and is wide enough for one vestibule of the train.

In addition to the building with ticket office and waiting room, this station stop has a bench shelter next to the main track. Permitted parking is available, along with bicycle racks along the station house wall.

Ground/ Platform level	Bypass track	←      Gladstone Branch toward Gladstone (Berkeley Heights) ←      Gladstone Branch toward Summit, Hoboken or New York (New Providence) →
	Station track	←      Gladstone Branch toward Gladstone (Berkeley Heights) ←      Gladstone Branch toward Summit, Hoboken or New York (New Providence) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the left or right
	Street level	Station building, ticket machine, parking

See also

• List of New Jersey Transit stations
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Union County, New Jersey

References

1. List of Station Numbers. Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad (Report). 1952. p. 2.
2. "Morris and Essex Timetables" (PDF). Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. November 7, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
3. Stitcher, Felecia (January 27, 1972). "100 Years Ago Saturday the Iron Horse Arrived". The Bernardsville News. p. 42. Retrieved October 17, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Hampton, Pat (November 8, 1979). "Murray Hill Carves a Niche in Borough". The Courier-News. Plainfield, New Jersey. p. 14. Retrieved January 18, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Bedecked Municipalities on P. & D. Branch Greet First Electric Train Run". The Plainfield Courier-News. January 7, 1931. pp. 1, 13. Retrieved January 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
7. "How Many Riders Use NJ Transit's Hoboken Train Station?". Hoboken Patch. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
8. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
9. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
10. Murray Hill New Jersey Transit Railroad Station Survey

External links

Media related to Murray Hill (NJT station) at Wikimedia Commons