Chatham station is a former

railroad station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...

located on Depot Road in

Chatham, Massachusetts Chatham () is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. Chatham is located at the southeastern tip of Cape Cod and has historically been a fishing community. First settled by th ...

. In use from 1887 to 1937, it has housed the Chatham Railroad Museum since 1960. The station was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1978 as Chatham Railroad Depot.

History

The Chatham Railroad opened between

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...

and Chatham on November 21, 1887. It was immediately leased by the

Old Colony Railroad The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, ...

, which controlled all rail lines on Cape Cod, as its Chatham Branch. The Old Colony was leased by the

New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , commonly known as The Consolidated, or simply as the New Haven, was a railroad that operated principally in the New England region of the United States from 1872 to 1968. Founded by the merger of ...

in 1893. Chatham station is a -story wooden structure with a gable roof. An octagonal tower protrudes from the north side of the building, with its base serving as a trackside bay window. The site also included a freight house, engine house, car house, and toolshed. The cupola was damaged by a lightning strike in 1926. Passenger service on the Chatham Branch ended in 1931; it was the first line on Cape Cod to lose service. Freight service continued until the line was abandoned in 1937. The stations were sold to private individuals; all but Chatham were eventually demolished. The Chatham freight house was moved to the residence of artist Alice Stallknecht in the 1940s. The station was proposed for demolition in 1957–58, but it was purchased in 1959 by Phyllis Graves Cox for use as a museum. It was restored over the next year and reopened as the Chatham Railroad Museum in July 1960. The station was listed on the

in 1978 as "Chatham Railroad Depot". The freight house was moved to the grounds of the Old Atwood House Museum in Chatham in 1977. The Chatham Railroad Museum features railroad artifacts, including the

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected New York metropolitan area, gr ...

model locomotives used at the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939 New York World's Fair (also known as the 1939–1940 New York World's Fair) was an world's fair, international exposition at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City, New York, United States. The fair included exhibitio ...

. Other displays include original and operating

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

equipment, lanterns, badges, signs, tools, timetables, menus and passes, promotional literature, original paintings and prints, calendars, and a restored 1910

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting; as well as in keeping a lookout for load ...

. The caboose was donated by the New York Central in 1962.

References

External links

Chatham Railroad Museum
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts, state=collapsed Chatham, Massachusetts Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1887 Railway stations in the United States closed in 1937 Railway stations in Barnstable County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Former railway stations in Massachusetts Museums in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Railroad museums in Massachusetts Former Old Colony Railroad stations

History

See also

References

External links