Middletown (Erie Railroad station)

Middletown was the main station along the Erie Railroad mainline in the city of Middletown, New York. Located on Depot Street, the station was first opened in 1843 with construction of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, which had originally terminated at Goshen. The station was located along the New York Division, which stretched from Pavonia Terminal in Jersey City, New Jersey to the Sparrowbush station just north of Port Jervis.

The building was opened in 1896 to replace one that had been in use since 1843 when the New York and Erie began service to the city. The Romanesque Revival building was designed by George E. Archer, Chief Architect of the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad, later the Erie Railroad.

The building served as a railroad station until 1983, when rail service was taken over by MTA's Metro-North Railroad. Service on the route of Erie's original Main Line was discontinued in favor of the Graham Line, an Erie-built freight line now used by Norfolk Southern and the Port Jervis Line and was replaced by the Middletown Metro-North station. The old station depot was renovated and restored, becoming the Thrall Library in 1995.

Train station

A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot (see below) is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight.

It generally consists of at least one track-side platform and a station building (depot) providing such ancillary services as ticket sales and waiting rooms. If a station is on a single-track line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as "stops" or, in some parts of the world, as "halts" (flag stops).

Stations may be at ground level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams or other rapid transit systems.

Terminology

In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station. Railway station and railroad station are less frequent; also, American usage makes a distinction between the terms railroad and railway.

In Britain and other Commonwealth countries, traditional usage favours railway station or simply station, even though train station, which is often perceived as an Americanism, is now about as common as railway station in writing; railroad station is not used, railroad being obsolete there. In British usage, the word station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified.

Susquehanna (Erie Railroad station)

The Erie Railroad Station in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania was built by the Erie Railway (later reorganized as the Erie Railroad) in 1863. The three-story Gothic Revival structure included a large hotel, called Starrucca House, with rooms for 200 people and a 120 feet (37 m) long dining room. Overall building size is 327 feet (100 m) length by 40 feet (12 m) width.

The railroad converted the hotel into offices and sleeping quarters for railroad personnel c. 1903. Alterations were made to the building in 1913 and 1917. The Erie Railroad merged into the Erie Lackawanna Railroad in 1960, which ended passenger train service over the former Erie Delaware Division through Susquehanna in 1966. All remaining passenger service on the former Lackawanna route via Scranton, PA, was discontinued on January 6, 1970. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

References

Erie Railroad

The Erie Railroad (reporting mark ERIE) was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie. It expanded west to Chicago with its 1941 merger with the former Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, also known as the New York Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad (NYPANO RR). Its mainline route proved influential in the development and economic growth of the Southern Tier, including cities such as Binghamton, Elmira and Hornell.

On October 17, 1960, the Erie merged with the former rival Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad to form the Erie Lackawanna Railroad. It became part of Conrail in 1976. In 1983, Erie remnants became part of New Jersey Transit rail operations, including its Main Line. Today, most of the former Erie Railroad routes are operated by Norfolk Southern Railway.

History

New York and Erie Rail Road: 1832–1861

The New York and Erie Rail Road was chartered April 24, 1832 by Governor of New York, Enos T. Throop to connect the Hudson River at Piermont, north of New York City, west to Lake Erie at Dunkirk. On February 16, 1841 the railroad was authorized to cross into the northeast corner of Pennsylvania on the west side of the Delaware River. Construction began in 1836, and it opened from Piermont to Goshen on September 23, 1841. After some financial problems, construction resumed in August 1846, and the next section, to Port Jervis, opened on January 7, 1848. Further extensions opened to Binghamton December 27, 1848, Owego January 1, 1849, and the full length to Dunkirk May 19, 1851. At Dunkirk steamboats continued across Lake Erie to Detroit, Michigan.

Middletown

Middletown may refer to:

Places

Film

Middletown, Connecticut

Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (26 km) south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. Middletown was included within Hartford County upon its creation on May 10, 1666. In 1784, the central settlement was incorporated as a city distinct from the town. Both were included within newly formed Middlesex County in May of 1785. In 1923, the City of Middletown was consolidated with the Town, making the city limits of the city quite extensive.

Originally a busy sailing port and then an industrial center, it is now largely residential with its downtown serving as a popular retail, dining, and entertainment district proximal to Wesleyan University. Middletown was the county seat of Middlesex County from its creation in 1785 until the elimination of county government in 1960. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 47,648. Middletown, Connecticut is considered the southernmost city in the Hartford-Springfield Knowledge Corridor Metropolitan Region, which features a combined metro population of 1.9 million.

Middletown Township, New Jersey

Middletown Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a total population of 66,522, making it the state's 16th largest municipality, having seen an increase of 195 residents (0.3%) from its population of 66,327 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 17th most populous municipality, which had in turn declined by 1,856 (-2.7%) from the 68,183 counted in the 1990 Census. Middletown is one of the oldest sites of European settlement in New Jersey.

Due to its affluence, low crime, access to cultural activities, public school system, and central commuting location, Middletown was ranked in 2006, 2008, and 2010, and 2014 Top 100 in CNNMoney.com's Best Places to Live.Time magazine listed Middletown on its list of "Best Places to Live 2014".

History

Small communities of the Lenape Navesink tribe were common throughout the area when the first known European landing in what would become Middletown Township occurred in 1609. Sea captain and explorer Henry Hudson, in search of the mythical Northwest Passage in the service of the Dutch West India Company, anchored along the shores of Sandy Hook Bay in 1609, describing the area "a very good land to fall in with and a pleasant land to see." While a patroonship was granted by the company in 1651 the land wasn't officially settled. Today's Shoal Harbor Museum and Old Spy House includes portions of a house constructed by Thomas Whitlock, one of the area's first European settlers (and a Reformed Baptist at Middletown) who arrived here as early as 1664, before the English conquest of New Netherland began in 1665 as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Long-standing tradition had Penelope Stout, one of the first settlers, hiding in a tree from hostile Native Americans.