Caldwell station

Caldwell station opened with the construction of the Caldwell Branch of the New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad (a subsidiary of the Erie Railroad system). The original proposed service through Caldwell was the Caldwell Railroad, a company founded in March 1869 for the construction of a railroad between Montclair and Caldwell.[9] Construction began in 1872 of the railroad.[10] However, work on this route was suspended in 1872 due to the inability to complete a tunnel through Montclair and nearby Verona. About 2,000 feet (610 m) of the tunnel was left uncompleted.[11]

The railroad was built in 1891, with the route via Great Notch station in Little Falls.[2] As part of the construction, a depot, measured at 26 by 14 feet (7.9 m × 4.3 m), was built for the terminal of the new railroad.[12] Service on the railroad began on July 4, 1891.[2] Service, one year later, was extended to nearby Essex Fells.[13]

The former Caldwell station, built in 1891, serving as a depot for Verona in 1909

The station was replaced in 1904 as part of the construction of the Morristown and Caldwell Railroad. Construction of this new station cost the Erie Railroad $20,000 (1904 USD). The new station would do the work of the Erie Railroad and the Morristown and Caldwell Railroad.[4] This new depot was measured at 53 by 23 feet (16.2 m × 7.0 m).[12] On July 4, 1904, thirteen years after the commencement of service through Caldwell, the first train of the Morristown and Caldwell crossed through the borough.[14] The old station, built in 1891, was moved across the tracks, serving as a freight house.[7]

On January 9, 1905, the passenger station built at the nearby Verona station caught fire. The depot, along with its contents, were burned and lost.[15] The Erie Railroad decided to take the old station at Caldwell, serving as a freight depot, to become the new passenger depot at Verona. In February 1905, the snow-covered ground served as an opportunity to move the depot. With 12 horses, the old freight depot was moved up Bloomfield Avenue on rafters to Depot Street and Personette Street. This depot burned down in the winter of 1962.[7]

In July 1907, commuters were confused when they came to Caldwell station and found the doors locked. Henry Banta, the newly-appointed station agent, had left town and locked the station without telling anyone. When an employee from Pavonia Terminal came to Caldwell to open the station, they found everything in good condition with all books and details in place. Banta, like his predecessor, John I. Jacobus, is believed to have left due to the incredible amount of work it was taking with no assistant.[16]

In 1902, the Monomonock Inn, a local hotel and resort, opened on the east side of Prospect St, between Bloomfield Ave and Academy Rd. This helped influence the growth of Caldwell,[8] to the extent that by 1916, the inn itself had its own station on the Caldwell Branch.[1] The Inn was closed and razed in 1940, to be replaced by local housing and an A&P grocery store.[6] Local streetcar service, which ran next to the Caldwell station on Bloomfield Avenue ended in 1952.[8]

The borough of Caldwell purchased the depot in 1965 from the cash-strapped Erie Lackawanna Railroad.[8] (The Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad had merged on October 17, 1960, as they were both struggling financially.[17]) The borough razed the depot on August 6, 1965.[5] Service at Caldwell station ended on September 30, 1966, when multiple branch lines of the Erie Lackawanna were discontinued.[3]

• Caldwell Photos - First Baptist Church of Bloomfield