Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Mass.

Title

Greenwood Station, circa 1907

Description

"Erected in the mid-1870s, the Greenwood Boston & Maine train station was originally planned for a location closer to Forrest Street. There was a contentious debate in 1873, according to the December 20, 1873 Citizen & Banner: "The report of 'leave to withdraw' given the petitioners for a change of location of the Greenwood depot, by our Road Commissioners, we presume will be generally satisfactory. We only hope that now the point is decided the Railroad authorities will begin the erection of a new depot at once. We believe that room enough is obtainable on either side of the track for the depot and trust that no personal preferences will be urged against the common good." The station was eventually located in front of Mr. Locke's Grove, also called Greenwood Grove. According to "A History of Greenwood", written by high school senior Betty Jones in 1939, the area included a "picnic grove with the dancehall, cook house, monkey cage, band stand and an observatory." By 1939, all the buildings had been torn down or burned and the land was owned by Mr. Fell. The station was again the subject of debate when the Atlantic Refinery Company put in an offer to buy the station from Boston & Maine to build a "modern, two-bay filling station" in the late 1950s. That never materialized and the station was moved on January 29, 1959 to the soon-to-be opened Pleasure Island. The station was destroyed by fire in April 1971." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.

Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2020

Photo courtesy of JC Marketing Associates

Contributor

Institution: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

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

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

Coverage

Massachusetts -- Middlesex (county) -- Wakefield

Date

ca. 1907

Format

image/jpeg

Publisher

Wakefield, Mass. : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department

Subject

Railroad stations

Railroads

Local transit

Type

still image

Photographs

Original Format

1 picture: b & w

Extent

17 x 32 cm.