North Easton station
North Easton station is a historic railroad depot situated near Oliver Street in North Easton, Massachusetts, originally crafted by the architect H. H. Richardson. Erected in 1881, it functioned as a commuter rail stop until 1958 and currently serves as the home of the Easton Historical Society. The station earned a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 under the name Old Colony Railroad Station and was subsequently included within the H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton, a designated National Historic Landmark District, in 1987. Plans to reinstate passenger rail service at this location are underway as part of Phase 2 of the South Coast Rail initiative.
History
The Easton Branch Railroad commenced operations between Stoughton and North Easton on May 16, 1855. Initially integrated into the Boston and Providence Railroad, it was incorporated into the Dighton and Somerset Railroad network by 1866.
In 1881, Frederick Lothrop Ames, serving as director of the Old Colony Railroad, engaged Richardson to design a new station, coinciding with his concurrent project on the nearby Ames Gate Lodge. Renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted contributed to its surroundings. The station is a modest single-story edifice characterized by Richardson’s hallmark robust stonework and expansive roofline. Oriented along a north-south axis adjacent to the now-abandoned tracks on its western flank, its interior layout is balanced, featuring spacious waiting rooms at both ends.
Built from rough-hewn gray granite accented with brownstone detailing, the exterior showcases two prominent semicircular arches embellished with sculpted snarling beast heads; an additional arch forms a porte-cochere on the east side. The structure is completed by deep overhanging eaves supported by straightforward wooden brackets.
Passenger rail service extending beyond Stoughton was discontinued on September 5, 1958. In 1969, ownership transferred when the Ames family purchased the property from the Penn Central Railroad and subsequently donated it to the historical society. The building was registered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and later became part of the H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton, recognized as a National Historic Landmark District in 1987.
Under Phase 2 of the South Coast Rail project, proposals include establishing a new MBTA Commuter Rail stop named Easton Village at this historic site. Initial designs drafted in 2014 outline an approximately 800-foot-long high-level platform positioned opposite the original station building.
See also
- Ames Shovel Shop
- H. H. Richardson Historic District of North Easton
- North Easton Historic District
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Bristol County, Massachusetts
- List of Old Colony Railroad stations
External links
- Articles with short description
- Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Massachusetts
- Henry Hobson Richardson buildings
- Railway stations in the United States opened in 1855
- Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
- Historic American Buildings Survey in Massachusetts
- Buildings and structures in Bristol County, Massachusetts
- Former Old Colony Railroad stations
- Easton, Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts
- Former railway stations in Massachusetts
- Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
- 1855 establishments in Massachusetts
- MBTA Commuter Rail stations in Bristol County, Massachusetts
- Railway stations scheduled to open in 2030
- Proposed MBTA Commuter Rail stations
- Railway stations in the United States closed in 1958