Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Mass.

Title

Upper Depot, circa early 1900s

Description

"The Wakefield Board of Trade successfully circulated a petition in 1888 that requested that the Boston and Maine Railroad build a new depot on the west side of the tracks to replace the 'decrepit' wooden depot on the east side of the tracks. As early as 1886, the Citizen and Banner called for a new station 'for the safety of the patrons on the road and to do away with the present unsatisfactory and uncomfortable minutes spent in waiting on the "other side of the track" in the warm, cold, or damp and disagreeable weather.' In addition, the newspaper noted that it had become the adopted principle of the B&M management to locate depots on the west side of the track in suburban towns and cities, citing that Melrose was moving its station to the west as well. In August 1888, B&M Railroad Company agreed to the petition. The company also agreed to purchase an 82,140 square foot vacant lot of land between Chestnut and Murray Streets from the Wakefield Real Estate and Building Association, at a cost not to exceed 19 cents a square foot. B&M also agreed to buy a strip of land from St. Joseph's Church, not to exceed 25 cents a square foot, and to build a street 50 feet wide from Albion to Chestnut Streets. In return for erecting a 'commodious' station of brick and stone, the Town was required to buy a 13,720 square foot strip of land on the east side of the old station for a price equal to the average price the B&M paid for its land. The Town agreed to those terms in October 1888. Built of 'first-quality' dark red-face brick laid in English Venetian red mortar at a cost of $12,000, the station was 73 feet in length by 27 feet in width with two ornamental chimneys and a 9 feet wide veranda surrounding the station. The interior included a waiting room 25 feet by 50 feet, with a 12 feet by 14 feet ticket office in the center and four entrances, two on each side, with a monogrammed B&M inserted into the transom over each entrance. The windows were filled with the finest German glass. The depot was set back 12 to 14 feet from the tracks to allow sufficient room to increase the number of tracks from two to four at some time in the future. The station opened on Sunday, July 27th, 1890 with the ticket office opening on Monday at 3:00 p.m. The old depot remained in use as a baggage and freight storage facility until it was sold to Enos Wiley who moved it to his farm on Water Street." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.

Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2006

Contributor

Institution: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.)

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

Coverage

Massachusetts--Middlesex (county)--Wakefield

Date

ca. 1900-1939

Format

image/jpeg

Publisher

[Wakefield, Mass.] : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department

Subject

Railroad stations

Railroads

Type

still image

Photographs

Original Format

1 picture : b&w

Extent

14 x 31 cm.