Union Station is the ruin of an historic former train station located at Lockport in Niagara County, New York. It was constructed in 1889, for the New York Central Railroad (NYC) in the Romanesque style. The station served the NYC Falls Road line, an East-West corridor connecting Niagara Falls and Rochester, New York. While technically not a "union station" - as no other railroad shared its facilities - it took its local name from its address on Union Street in Lockport.
Lockport | |||||||||||
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 Lockport station in June 2009. | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 95 Union Street, Lockport city, New York | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 43°10′26″N 78°41′08″W / 43.173889°N 78.685556°W | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | Falls Road | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 2 (historically) 1 (current) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Closed | 1957 | ||||||||||
| Rebuilt | 1889 | ||||||||||
| Former services | |||||||||||
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Union Station | |||||||||||
 The side of the abandoned depot in June 2009 | |||||||||||
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 Interactive map showing the location for Lockport Union Station | |||||||||||
| Location | 95 Union Ave., Lockport, New York | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 43°10′26″N 78°41′8″W / 43.17389°N 78.68556°W | ||||||||||
| Built | 1889 | ||||||||||
| Architect | Houston, W.E.; Bendinger & Young | ||||||||||
| Architectural style | Romanesque | ||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 77000966 [1] | ||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | December 02, 1977 | ||||||||||
There are conflicting sources regarding the architect of the station. According to the building's National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) registration, W. E. Houston and Bendinger & Young are the artictects. Another mentions John D. Fouquet who had designed several building for the NYC's Depew, New York yard. There is also local belief that it is a Stanford White design but the Lockport station is not listed among his known commissions. At its peak in the early twentieth century the station serviced 10-35 trains per day. The station was closed when passenger service on the line ended in 1957.[2]
The building was unused until 1967. It was renovated and reopened as a restaurant in 1971. The restaurant was gutted by fire in December 1974, rebuilt and again destroyed by fire in 1978.[3]
It was listed on the NRHP in 1977.[1]
A private owner acquired the building in 2006 and has since spent approximately $250,000 on stabilization measures. The owner plans to retore the building as an operating train station by 2029.[4]
The track along side the station remains in active freight service and is owned by the Falls Road Railroad.[5] The short-lived Niagara & Western New York ran a heritage operation between Lockport and Medina in 2002. As of 2023 the Medina Railroad Museum operated occasional heritage service to Lockport.[6] In 1994, during Conrail ownership, twelve miles (19 km) of track connecting Brockport to Rochester, New York was abandoned. Consequently the Falls Road route now terminates in Brockport, east of Owens Road at Mile Post 16.60.
Gallery
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Union Station, Lockport, New York -
New York Central Falls Road line (red) from Niagara Falls to Rochester c. 1900.
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Linnabery, Ann Marie (6 January 2024). "NIAGARA DISCOVERIES: Union Station, Lockport, New York". Lockportjournal.com. Lockport, New York: Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
- ^ "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)" (Searchable database). New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2016-03-01. Note: This includes James Goche and Lynn A. Beebe (July 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Union Station" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-03-01. and Accompanying two photographs
- ^ Heid, Derek (22 January 2024). "'It needs to be brought back': Restoration set to begin on Lockport's Union Station". Buffalo, New York: wkbw ABC News 7. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
- ^ "Western New York - Niagara Falls to Greater Rochester". gvtrail.com. Genesee Valley Transportation Co. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ Iverson, Lucas (14 July 2023). "New York tourist railroads you must visit". Trains.com. Kalmbach Media. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
External links
edit- Union Station - Lockport, NY - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. NY-60, "New York Central Railroad, Lockport Passenger Station, Washburn & Union Streets, Lockport, Niagara County, NY", 2 photos, 2 data pages, 1 photo caption page
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