| Operating Passenger Railroad Stations | |
| Location: | New Jersey, U.S. |
| Architecture: | various |
| Added: | June 22, 1984 & September 29, 1984 |
| Refnum: | 64000496 |
| Designated Other1 Name: | New Jersey Register of Historic Places |
| Designated Other1 Abbr: | NJRHP |
| Designated Other1 Link: | New Jersey Register of Historic Places |
| Designated Other1 Date: | March 17, 1984 |
| Designated Other1 Number: | 5080[1] |
| Designated Other1 Num Position: | bottom |
| Designated Other1 Color: |
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The Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource is a list of 53 New Jersey Transit stations in New Jersey entered into the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for their architectural, historical, and cultural merit.[2]
Rail service began in New Jersey in 1834. Over the course of the next century, an expansive system operated by competing private companies crisscrossed the state, providing freight, long-distance and commuter passenger service.[3]
By the mid 1970s most were financially troubled. Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971 after having taken over long-distance passenger service considered to be in the nation's best interest, including the Northeast Corridor in New Jersey. Statewide commuter services came under the auspices of the New Jersey Department of Transportation and were operated under contract by Conrail, which had been established in 1976.
New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJTRO) was established by 1983 when New Jersey Transit (NJT) took over operations.[4]
New Jersey Transit, in conjunction with State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), commissioned a field study concluded in 1981 of 112 train station buildings, or head houses, under its jurisdiction that had been built before World War II and were still in operation, which culminated in a report The Operating Railroad Stations of New Jersey: A Historical Survey. After a process of elimination over the next years the SHPO recommended that 53 stations be included in a multiple property submission (MPS) thematic nomination (TN); several had been previously designated, some as contributing properties to historic districts.[5]
The NJRHP designation took place on March 17, 1984 (#5080).[6] The MPS submission was made on May 8, 1984.[2] Forty of the stations were entered into the NRHP on June 22, 1984 and the remainder were entered as part of the completed TN on September 29, 1984 (#64000496).[7] Many stations were along former lines that had become part of NJTRO, one of which is used by SEPTA.
The oldest station building, the Long-a-Coming Depot, built in 1856, and the oldest active station building, Ramsey-Main Street Station, built in 1868, were not listed. Also not included in the TN were two significant individually-listed historic operating stations, Newark Pennsylvania Station and Hoboken Terminal, both of which are major rail hubs that also serve as terminals for light rail, PATH subway trains, and in the case of Hoboken, ferries across the Hudson River.
Another former intermodal station, the inactive Communipaw Terminal on the Upper New York Bay, had also been previously listed. There are other stations which have also been listed on the state and federal register, such as Mountain Lakes and Demarest which were not part of the TN since they were inactive at the time, were not considered sufficiently significant, or were not part of the NJT system.
| 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) delisted October 30, 1990 | Inactive. Service discontinued April 7, 1991[8] Station building demolished 1991 | |
| 2 | Anderson Street | Pascack Valley Line | Hackensack Bergen | Erie | 1869 | NJRHP#519 March 17, 1984 delisted March 30, 2011 NRHP #84002520 June 22, 1984 (TR) delisted May 2011 | Active Listed station building destroyed by fire 2009 and replaced |
| 3 | Bernardsville | Gladstone Branch | Bernardsville Somerset | Lackawanna | 1901 | NJRHP#247 March 17, 1984 NRHP#84002786 June 22, 1984 (TR) | Active |
| 4 | Bloomfield | Montclair-Boonton Line | Bloomfield Essex | Lackawanna | 1912 | NJRHP#1065 March 17, 1984 NRHP#84002631 June 22, 1984 (TR) | Active Listed building privately owned[9] |
| 5 | Boonton | Montclair-Boonton Line | Boonton Morris | Lackawanna | 1905 | NJRHP#2089 October 19, 1976 NRHP#77000889 July 13, 1977 September 29, 1984 (TR) | Active |
| 6 | Bound Brook | Raritan Valley Line | Bound Brook Somerset | Jersey Central | 1913 replaced 1847 Elizabethtown & Somerville Railroad Depot | NJRHP#2481 March 17, 1984 NRHP#84002787 June 22, 1984 (TR) | Active station. Station house (1913) converted to restaurant[10] |
| 7 | Bradley Beach[11] |
| Pascack Valley Line| Oradell
Bergen| Erie| 1891| NJRHP#612 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002575 June 22, 1984| Active|-|37| Orange| Morristown Line
Gladstone Branch| Orange
Essex| Lackawanna| 1918| NJRHP#1335 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002665 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|38| Park Ridge
| Pascack Valley Line| Park Ridge
Bergen| Erie| 1872| NJRHP#627 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002577 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|39| Perth Amboy| North Jersey Coast Line| Perth Amboy
Middlesex| Jersey Central| 1923| NJRHP#1899 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002735 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|40| Plainfield[15] | Raritan Valley Line| Plainfield
Union| Jersey Central| 1902| NJRHP#2791 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002837 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|41| Princeton[16] | | Princeton
Mercer| Pennsylvania| 1918
replaced 1865-built UNJ&C Depot
| NJRHP#1742 March 17, 1984
NRHP September 29, 1984 (TR)| Inactive
New station house opened 2014 on shortened Princeton Branch[17] |-|42| Radburn| Bergen County Line| Radburn
Fairlawn
Bergen| Erie| 1930| NJRHP#483 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002580 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|43| Raritan| Raritan Valley Line| Raritan
Somerset| Jersey Central| 1890| NJRHP#2579 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002824 June 22, 1984 (TR) |Active|-|44| Red Bank| North Jersey Coast Line| Red Bank
Monmouth| Jersey Central| 1876| NJRNP#2048 January 7, 1976
NRHP#76001172 May 28, 1976
September 29, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|45| Ridgewood| Main Line
Bergen County Line| Ridgewood
Bergen| Erie| 1916| NJRHP#647 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002582 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|46| Rutherford| Bergen County Line| Rutherford
Bergen| Erie| 1898
replaced an 1862-built NY&E Depot| NJRHP#667 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002584 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|47| South Orange| Morristown Line
Gladstone Branch| South Orange
Essex| Lackawanna| 1915| NJRHP#1362 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002669 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|48| Tuckahoe[18] | | Upper Township
Cape May| Atlantic City Railroad
Philadelphia and Reading Railway
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines| 1894–95
1906| NJRHP#1016 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002626 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Inactive
Cape May Seashore Lines
Seasonal excursion train suspended 2012|-|49| Upper Montclair| Montclair-Boonton Line| Upper Montclair
Montclair
Essex| Erie| 1892
replaced 1873-built Montclair Railway station| NJRHP#1191 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002673 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|50| Waldwick| Main Line
Bergen County Line| Waldwick
Bergen| Erie| 1886| NJRHP#716 August 27, 1977
NRHP#78001742 August 27, 1977
September 29, 1984 (TR)| Active
Listed station building not in use by NJT leased to historical society since 2009[19] |-|51| Watchung Avenue| Montclair-Boonton Line| Montclair
Essex| Erie| 1904
replaced 1873-built Montclair Railway station| NJRHP#1198 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002674 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|52| West Trenton| West Trenton Line (SEPTA)| West Trenton
Ewing
Mercer| Reading| 1929| NJRHP#1650 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84004031 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active
Proposed station on West Trenton Line (NJ Transit)|-|53| White House| Raritan Valley Line| Whitehouse Station
Readington Township
Hunterdon| Jersey Central
Rockaway Valley Railroad| 1892| NJRHP#1628 March 17, 1984
NRHP#84002726 June 22, 1984 (TR)| Active|-|}
Among the others stations in the state, most of which of are inactive, listed in the state and federal registers are Allenhurst (NJT)[20] (station building demolished), Butler (NYSW), Cary (CNJ), Demarest (Erie Northern Branch), Great Meadows (L&HR), Long-a-Coming Depot, Maywood (NYSW), Mountain Lakes, North Pemberton (C&A), Pennington (Reading), Pompton Plains (Erie), Rio Grande (WJ), Tenafly (Erie Northern Branch), and Washington (DL&W) (demolished).