Harwich station (Massachusetts)

Harwich station was a railway station located in Harwich, Massachusetts. It opened in 1865 and closed in 1940. The station was the junction between the Cape Cod Railroad mainline and the Chatham Branch.

Harwich
Harwich station on an early-20th-century postcard
General information
LocationDepot Road
Harwich, Massachusetts
Coordinates 41°41′15.16″N 70°5′29.08″W
Line(s)Cape Main Line, Chatham Branch
Former services
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
North Harwich
toward Boston
 Boston–​Provincetown Pleasant Lake
toward Provincetown
Terminus Chatham Branch Harwich Center
toward Chatham

History
Early-20th-century postcard of the station

The Cape Cod Central Railroad opened between Yarmouth and Orleans in December 1865.[1] Harwich was among the initial stations on the line.[2] The Cape Cod Central merged in 1868 into the Cape Cod Railroad, which in turn became part of the Old Colony Railroad in 1872.[1] A nearby building was purchased in 1878 for use as a freight house.[3]

The Chatham Railroad opened between Harwich and Chatham on November 21, 1887.[4][5] It was immediately leased by the Old Colony Railroad, which controlled all rail lines on Cape Cod, as its Chatham Branch.[1][6] The Old Colony was leased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893.[1] A turntable, wye, and water tower were located at Harwich; a new freight house was built adjacent to the station in the 1890s.[7]

Passenger service on the Chatham Branch ended in 1931.[1][8] Freight service continued until the line was abandoned in 1937.[9][10] All passenger service between Yarmouth and Provincetown ended in 1938 due to the 88 stations case; it resumed only for the 1940 summer season.[11][12][1] Freight service on the portion of the line between South Dennis and North Eastham, including Harwich, ended on September 5, 1965, and the line was abandoned.[1]

The mainline was converted to the Cape Cod Rail Trail, while the Chatham Branch became the Old Colony Rail Trail.[1] The junction between the trails is near the site of the former station, which is no longer extant.[13]

References
  1. Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. pp. 408–414. ISBN 9780942147124.
  2. Farson, Robert H. (1993). Cape Cod Railroads Including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Joan Hollister Farson (First ed.). Yarmouthport, Massachusetts: Cape Cod Historical Publications. p. 161. ISBN 0-9616740-1-6.
  3. Fifteenth Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1878. p. 7.
  4. "Opening Chatham's New Railroad". The Boston Globe. November 16, 1887. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Chatham's New Railroad Opened". The Boston Globe. November 21, 1887. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1887. p. 7.
  7. Eldredge, Andrews T. (2003). Railroads of Cape Cod and the Islands. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 57, 58. ISBN 978-0-7385-1157-3.
  8. "Demand Gasoline Car Be Retained". The Boston Globe. July 29, 1930. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "To Abandon RR Line Harwich to Chatham". The Boston Globe. May 22, 1937. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "7-Mile Cape Railroad With Three Stations Goes on Market as Last Train Puffs Away". The Boston Globe. July 8, 1937. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "New Haven Announces Changes in Timetables". Boston Globe. July 13, 1938. pp. 1, 2 – via Newspapers.com. (part 2, part 3) open access
  12. "Train service alibi for lateness today". Boston Globe. July 18, 1938. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  13. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. p. 117. ISBN 9780942147087.

Media related to Harwich station (Massachusetts) at Wikimedia Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.