New Railroad Station for York
York passenger station in early 1900s
Rail travel was booming in the late 19th century. York’s pre-Civil War passenger station was no longer adequate, so a new one was proposed, incorporating features found in larger cities.
New train station plan from article below
The York Dispatch of August 29, 1889 gave a brief description, accompanied by a simple plan that outlined what passengers could soon expect. It reads, in part:
PLAN OF THE NEW NORTHERN CENTRAL PASSENGER DEPOT
…the new depot to be built in this city by the Northern Central Railway promises to be a credit to York and an improvement that will compare favorable with many much larger cities than this. …the new edifice will resemble very much the Union station at Baltimore, the only great difference being the absence of some of the ornamentations. The building proper will be 45 1/2 by 130 feet, and…will have a covered passenger way facing the railway a distance of 230 feet, projecting 80 feet beyond the depot at one end, and 20 feet at the other, and 26 feet in width. A porch ten feet wide will extend around the two ends and front of the building.
The interior of the building will be handsomely finished. The ceilings will be 22 feet high….the building will be divided into two waiting rooms, baggage and express rooms, offices and closets, all finished in chestnut wood and tastily [I think they meant tastefully.] ornamented with metal railings. The waiting rooms will be furnished with tiled mantles and spacious fire places where the traveler can toast his extremities, during the rigors of winter, before the cracking flames of a rousing log fire, after the fashion that is so popular at the Broad street station at Philadelphia. As labor and material are cheaper in York than elsewhere, the supposition is that a York contractor will get the job. The conditions of the contract require that the building be completed by April next.
Passenger service to York on the Pennsylvania Railroad, successor to the Northern Central, ceased many years ago. The nicely restored station still stands on North Street at the foot of Duke, a very good example of adaptive reuse of fine old buildings.
