Milton Railroad Station
Encyclopedia
The Milton Railroad Station is located on Dock Road at the Hudson River
in Milton
, New York, United States. It is a frame rectangular structure built for the West Shore Railroad
in the late 19th century.
Service to the station ended after 76 years in the late 1950s, but it survives with the Highland Falls station
as one of the few extant West Shore Railroad passenger stations. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
(NRHP) in 2007. It has been used for tastings by a local winery
, and a community group is renovating it to serve the Town of Marlborough
as a community center.
, Old Indian Trail Road, leads to it from the south. A short, overgrown siding
that once served the station and is considered a contributing resource
to its NRHP listing is to the east. It is no longer connected to the still-active tracks between the station and the river.
The building itself is a one-story frame
30 by rectangular building with a broad gable
tin
roof and overhanging eaves. Its board-and-batten
siding is painted red. The northern two-thirds of the building, the oldest part, sits on a sandstone
foundation
, while the southern portion rests on masonry
piers. Both areas have cellar
s.
Inside most of the area was built for passenger operations. It has a waiting room
with a fireplace
and chimney
, ticket office, two bathrooms and a cross hallway. The walls of the passenger area are decorated
in beaded
panelling
and horizontal trim; the freight areas are less decorated. Some of the railway's communications equipment remains in the attic
, and freight scales remain in that area.
with the scroll-sawn
word "FREIGHT". Aesthetically, it reflects the Stick style common in the period of its construction, with its well-integrated forms and flamboyant detailing leaving the building's singular function apparent. The battens provide vertical scale and the window trim the horizontal.
long before the first colonists
arrived in the 17th century. Dock Road follows a ravine
and stream down to the river, making it one of the few places where access to it from inland settlements was easy. When the future Town of Marlborough
was settled around 1710, the station site was the boundary between its first two land grant
s, and some of the first houses were built nearby. A dock
and related structures had been built by the end of the century.
It continued to grow in the early half of the 19th century, becoming a regular steamboat
port and the eastern end of the Farmer's Turnpike, which extended out to the foot of the Shawangunk Ridge
in Gardiner. A wheelbarrow
factory at the site did a steady business. These interests resisted at first when the West Shore Railroad
began acquiring property for their attempt to compete with the New York Central
's Water Level Route across the river. Their litigation to stop it was dismissed in 1882, and the station, designed and built by Philadelphia architects Wilson Brothers & Co., opened the next year.
The West Shore failed in its attempt to compete with the wealthy and powerful Central, and was absorbed into it after bankruptcy
proceedings two years later, in 1885. The new owner expanded the station to its current size sometime around 1890 in order to handle freight shipments more efficiently. A decade or so later, the Central added a steam-boiler
heating system and spruced up the interiors.
In the 1950s air travel
and the Interstate Highway System
began offering alternatives to railroads, and the last passenger train stopped at Milton in 1959. Freight service likewise ended a few years later. A local winery
bought the station and used it for tastings, putting in a steel stairway to the basement and removing the partitions that separated the station master
and ticket agent's offices from the waiting room. In their place a wine bar was added.
Near the end of the 20th century, in 1998, the winery sold the property to the town. A local volunteer group, Friends of Milton Station, has been raising
at least $100,000 to restore
the station to its original appearance so the town can reuse
it as a community center. The town has been seeking grants
from the state and other sources to cover the rest.
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
in Milton
Milton, Ulster County, New York
Milton is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 1,251 at the 2000 census.The community of Milton is located in the northeast part of the Town of Marlborough.- Geography :...
, New York, United States. It is a frame rectangular structure built for the West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...
in the late 19th century.
Service to the station ended after 76 years in the late 1950s, but it survives with the Highland Falls station
Highland Falls Railroad Depot
The Highland Falls Railroad Depot in Highland Falls, New York, is a former West Shore Railroad train station built in the 1880s. It was later used by the New York Central Railroad...
as one of the few extant West Shore Railroad passenger stations. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
(NRHP) in 2007. It has been used for tastings by a local winery
Winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...
, and a community group is renovating it to serve the Town of Marlborough
Marlborough, New York
Marlborough is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 8,263 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the Duke of Marlborough....
as a community center.
Description
The station is located where Dock Road comes down from downtown Milton to the river's edge, in the midst of a small former industrial area. A one-way dirt roadDirt road
Dirt road is a common term for an unpaved road made from the native material of the land surface through which it passes, known to highway engineers as subgrade material. Dirt roads are suitable for vehicles; a narrower path for pedestrians, animals, and possibly small vehicles would be called a...
, Old Indian Trail Road, leads to it from the south. A short, overgrown siding
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
that once served the station and is considered a contributing resource
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to its NRHP listing is to the east. It is no longer connected to the still-active tracks between the station and the river.
The building itself is a one-story frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
30 by rectangular building with a broad gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
roof and overhanging eaves. Its board-and-batten
Batten
A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...
siding is painted red. The northern two-thirds of the building, the oldest part, sits on a sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
, while the southern portion rests on masonry
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
piers. Both areas have cellar
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
s.
Inside most of the area was built for passenger operations. It has a waiting room
Waiting room
A waiting room is a building, or more commonly a part of a building where people sit or stand until the event they are waiting for occurs.There are generally two types of waiting room. One is where individuals leave one at a time, for instance at a doctor's office or a hospital, or outside a school...
with a fireplace
Fireplace
A fireplace is an architectural structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue allows gas and particulate exhaust to escape...
and chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
, ticket office, two bathrooms and a cross hallway. The walls of the passenger area are decorated
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
in beaded
Bead (woodworking)
A bead is a woodworking decorative treatment applied to various elements of wooden furniture, boxes and other items.A bead is typically a rounded shape cut into a square edge to soften the edge and provide some protection against splitting...
panelling
Panelling
Panelling is a wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials....
and horizontal trim; the freight areas are less decorated. Some of the railway's communications equipment remains in the attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
, and freight scales remain in that area.
Aesthetics
In one of the gables was a hallmark of the station's architects, a bargeboardBargeboard
Bargeboard is a board fastened to the projecting gables of a roof to give them strength and to mask, hide and protect the otherwise exposed end of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof to which they were attached...
with the scroll-sawn
Scroll saw
A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw that is useful for cutting intricate curves in cases where a jigsaw or coping saw is not appropriate. It is capable of creating curves with edges...
word "FREIGHT". Aesthetically, it reflects the Stick style common in the period of its construction, with its well-integrated forms and flamboyant detailing leaving the building's singular function apparent. The battens provide vertical scale and the window trim the horizontal.
History
The station site had been actively used for transportation purposes by local Native AmericansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
long before the first colonists
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
arrived in the 17th century. Dock Road follows a ravine
Ravine
A ravine is a landform narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streamcutting erosion. Ravines are typically classified as larger in scale than gullies, although smaller than valleys. A ravine is generally a fluvial slope landform of relatively steep sides, on the order of twenty to...
and stream down to the river, making it one of the few places where access to it from inland settlements was easy. When the future Town of Marlborough
Marlborough, New York
Marlborough is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 8,263 at the 2000 census. The town was named after the Duke of Marlborough....
was settled around 1710, the station site was the boundary between its first two land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
s, and some of the first houses were built nearby. A dock
Dock (maritime)
A dock is a human-made structure or group of structures involved in the handling of boats or ships, usually on or close to a shore.However, the exact meaning varies among different variants of the English language...
and related structures had been built by the end of the century.
It continued to grow in the early half of the 19th century, becoming a regular steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
port and the eastern end of the Farmer's Turnpike, which extended out to the foot of the Shawangunk Ridge
Shawangunk Ridge
The Shawangunk Ridge , also known as the Shawangunk Mountains or The Gunks, is a ridge of bedrock in Ulster County, Sullivan County and Orange County in the state of New York, extending from the northernmost point of New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains.The ridgetop, which widens considerably at...
in Gardiner. A wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...
factory at the site did a steady business. These interests resisted at first when the West Shore Railroad
West Shore Railroad
The West Shore Railroad was the final name of a railroad from Weehawken, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City, north along the west shore of the river to Albany, New York and then west to Buffalo...
began acquiring property for their attempt to compete with the New York Central
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
's Water Level Route across the river. Their litigation to stop it was dismissed in 1882, and the station, designed and built by Philadelphia architects Wilson Brothers & Co., opened the next year.
Bankruptcy in the United States
Bankruptcy in the United States is governed under the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to enact "uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." Congress has exercised this authority several times since 1801, most recently by adopting the Bankruptcy...
proceedings two years later, in 1885. The new owner expanded the station to its current size sometime around 1890 in order to handle freight shipments more efficiently. A decade or so later, the Central added a steam-boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
heating system and spruced up the interiors.
In the 1950s air travel
Air travel
Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles such as airplanes, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimps, gliders, hang gliding, parachuting or anything else that can sustain flight.-Domestic and international flights:...
and the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
began offering alternatives to railroads, and the last passenger train stopped at Milton in 1959. Freight service likewise ended a few years later. A local winery
Winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...
bought the station and used it for tastings, putting in a steel stairway to the basement and removing the partitions that separated the station master
Station master
The station master was the person in charge of railway stations, in the United Kingdom and some other countries, before the modern age. He would manage the other station employees and would have responsibility for safety and the efficient running of the station...
and ticket agent's offices from the waiting room. In their place a wine bar was added.
Near the end of the 20th century, in 1998, the winery sold the property to the town. A local volunteer group, Friends of Milton Station, has been raising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
at least $100,000 to restore
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
the station to its original appearance so the town can reuse
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
it as a community center. The town has been seeking grants
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
from the state and other sources to cover the rest.