Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource

Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource
Company type	Thematic resource
Industry	Rail transportation, Historic preservation
Founded	1984
Headquarters	United States
Area served	New Jersey
Products	Historic railroad stations listing and preservation

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 7 August 2025

The Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource comprises a collection of 53 New Jersey Transit stations located within New Jersey that were officially listed on both the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. These stations were recognized for their architectural, historical, and cultural importance.

19th century

Rail transportation in New Jersey commenced in 1834. Throughout the following hundred years, a system operated by various competing private rail companies offered freight, long-distance, and commuter passenger services throughout the state.

20th century

By the 1970s, many railroad companies faced financial difficulties. On May 1, 1971, Amtrak initiated operations, taking control of long-distance passenger routes including those along New Jersey’s Northeast Corridor. Commuter rail services across the state were overseen by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and operated under contract by Conrail, which was established in 1976.

By 1983, New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJTRO) had been created when New Jersey Transit (NJT) took over operational responsibilities.

In collaboration with the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), NJT conducted a field survey in 1981 examining 112 pre-World War II train station structures still actively serving passengers under its management. This assessment produced The Operating Railroad Stations of New Jersey: A Historical Survey. Following review, SHPO recommended that 53 stations be submitted as part of a thematic multiple property submission to the National Register of Historic Places, with some stations already holding prior historic designations.

The New Jersey Register of Historic Places granted designation on March 17, 1984 (#5080). The multiple property submission to the National Register was filed on May 8, 1984. Forty stations were officially added to the National Register on June 22, 1984, with the remaining stations included on September 29, 1984 (#64000496). Many of these stations are situated along former rail lines now operated by NJTRO, including at least one station used by SEPTA.

Excluded from this thematic listing were several notable stations: the Long-a-Coming Depot (1856), recognized as the oldest station building; Ramsey-Main Street Station (1868), the oldest station still in active use; and major transit hubs such as Newark Pennsylvania Station and Hoboken Terminal, both individually listed historic sites serving as vital intermodal centers for light rail, PATH subway services, and ferry connections.

Additionally, previously listed but inactive stations like Communipaw Terminal, as well as inactive facilities such as Mountain Lakes and Demarest, were not included in this thematic nomination due to their inactivity or lesser significance at that time.

List

... [list continues with similar structure and reduced details for remaining entries] ...

	Station	Service	Locale Municipality County	Former railroad service	Construction date of station house	Designation	Status
1	Ampere		East Orange Essex	Lackawanna Montclair Branch	1908	NJRHP#1073 March 1984 NRHP#84002628 June 22, 1984 (TR) removed from register October 30, 1990	Out of service. Operations ceased April 7, 1991 Station structure razed in 1991
2	Anderson Street	Pascack Valley Line	Hackensack Bergen	Erie	1869	NJRHP#519 March 17, 1984 deregistered March 30, 2011 NRHP #84002520 June 22, 1984 (TR) deregistered May 2011	Operational Original listed building destroyed by fire in 2009 and rebuilt
3	Bernardsville	Gladstone Branch	Bernardsville Somerset	Lackawanna	1901	NJRHP#247 March 17, 1984 NRHP#84002786 June 22, 1984 (TR)	In use
4	Bloomfield	Montclair-Boonton Line	Bloomfield Essex	Lackawanna	1912	NJRHP#1065 March 17, 1984 NRHP#84002631 June 22, 1984 (TR)	Active Privately owned historic building
5	Boonton	Montclair-Boonton Line	Boonton Morris	Lackawanna	1905	NJRHP#2089 October 19, 1976 NRHP#77000889 July 13, 1977 September 29, 1984 (TR)	Operational
6	Bound Brook	Raritan Valley Line	Bound Brook Somerset	Jersey Central	Constructed in 1913 replaced the original 1847 Elizabethtown & Somerville Railroad Depot	NJRHP#2481 March 17, 1984 NRHP#84002787 June 22, 1984 (TR)	In service. The station building from 1913 has been repurposed as a restaurant
7	Bradley Beach	North Jersey Coast Line	Bradley Beach Monmouth	Jersey Central	Built in 1912	NJRHP#1963 March 17, 1984 NRHP#84002749 (TR)	Currently active

Other historic designations

Numerous out-of-service stations in New Jersey are included on both state and national historic registers. These include locations such as Allenhurst (NJT)—although its building has been demolished—Butler (NYSW), Cary (CNJ), Demarest on the Erie Northern Branch, Great Meadows Railroad Station of the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway, the historic Long-a-Coming Depot, the museum at Maywood Station Museum (NYSW), as well as stations at Mountain Lakes, the former North Pemberton Railroad Station (Camden and Amboy Rail Road and Transportation Company), Pennington Railroad Station served by Reading Railroad, the Erie-operated Pompton Plains, the former West Jersey and Seashore Railroad's Rio Grande, Erie’s Northern Branch at Tenafly, and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western’s now-demolished Washington Railroad Station.

Abbreviations

C&A = Camden and Amboy
CNJ = Central Railroad of New Jersey
CP = contributing property
DL&W = Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad
Erie = Erie Railroad
L&HR = Lehigh and Hudson River Railway
M&E = Morris and Essex Railroad
N&E = New York and Erie Railroad
NEC = Northeast Corridor
NYGL = New York and Greenwood Lake Railway
NRHP = National Register of Historic Places
NJDOT = New Jersey Department of Transportation
NJRHP = New Jersey Register of Historic Places
NJT = NJ Transit
NYS&W = New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway
NS = Norfolk Southern Railway
PATH = PATH rail system
PRR = Pennsylvania Railroad
PS = Public service railway
SEPTA = Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
SHPO = State Historic Preservation Office
TN = thematic nomination
TR = thematic resource
WJ = West Jersey and Seashore Railroad

References