|
********************
MADISON1
MADISON1. This stop was established in 1852 when the NH&NL opened through this town and the
first depot was likely built at that time. The images we have
thus far are the shot from the 1881 Bailey bird's-eye map [click here] at upper left and what we were able to take from a 1916 valuation
shot. The depot pedigree is authenticated by the compass ornament that the
NYP&B affixed to the stations
when it was lessee of this line from 1858 to 1864. The compass has been noted in photographs or on the Bailey maps for BRANFORD1, STONY CREEK1, CLINTON1, WESTBROOK1,
NOANK, WEST MYSTIC, and MYSTIC1, several of which structures are extant and still sport this detail today. The location of
this first station was at the intersection of Wall St. and Railroad Ave., as seen on the 1868 Beers map at lower right and,
at lower left, on the snippet from our CTTRAXMAP, the link to which can be found on the TCS home page. MADISON1 was moved
west to become the freight house when MADISON2 was built. It was moved again, this time to the corner of Rte. 79 and Old State
Hwy 79, and served as the senior center until early 2011 when it was razed and replaced by a structure built in similar style.
[REFS: R63][rev2/16]
********************
MADISON2
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
MADISON2. This NYNH&H saltbox-style station opened in 1896
west of the old location and MADISON1 was moved to join it on the new depot grounds, as seen on the 1915 val map at lower
right. The view at upper left looks west. The val photo seems to be dated 4/11/1916 and the view looks east as does the image
at lower left. This station, in contrast to most, sported a fancy porte
cochere on the street side that is seen in the val photo. [REFS: CRC44.1896.15;
HC/03/27/1973/13: PC
to raze shelters and abandon service]
********************
MADISON3
|
| Lee Carlson Collection |
MADISON3. With the inauguration of Shore Line East service in May, 1990, this shelter and ones like it were put up
all along the route. This one stood until July, 2008 when MADISON4 was built. [add2/17]
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MADISON4
MADISON4. Shore Line East station, as seen on 8/2/2010.
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MAMACOKE [> HARRISON]
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MANCHESTER1
|
| Connecticut Historical Society |
|
| Boston Public Library |
MANCHESTER1. The first name for this stop when
the HP&F opened in 1849 was reportedly UNION VILLAGE, as is seen on this 1855HC map but an 1851TT, however, already lists
it as MANCHESTER. The station is seen on the Bailey 1880 bird's-eye
map. The train that is approaching is on the South Manchester RR
and has just come up from the Cheney factories, which the tiny railroad connected to what was by now the NY&NE mainline.
The timing of this sketch was fortuitous for, had the Bailey artist arrived in 1881 after MANCHESTER2 was built, we would
not have this image of the first station. Click here for the LOC map collection. The photo was a lucky
find at CHS. Although the sketch image shows two chimneys at the time it was done, it otherwise seems to match the photograph,
right down to the trim design on the bargeboards.
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MANCHESTER2
MANCHESTER2. The lower left photo is a Benton and Drake from the 1930s. The 1893 map shows
the station in the appropriately named Depot Square, as well as the wye for the South Manchester RR. This station, flanked by its distinctive wings, was reportedly constructed using the frame of the previous
depot and was described as being in the Queen Anne style and about 25x72 feet in size. The wings are reminiscent of DANBURY3
built by Leman Oatman of Hartford also in 1881 and this may be his work as well. MANCHESTER2 served passengers until 1957. [REFS: HDC/04/15/1881/02; 5/25/1881/01; M98??: 1957]
********************
MANSFIELD1
MANSFIELD1, as seen on the 1857TC map. The stop was established
in 1850 when the NLW&P opened.
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MANSFIELD2
MANSFIELD2. [REFS: HC/02/08/1916/04]
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MANSFIELD3
MANSFIELD3. [REFS: C82 sz 6/16/1930; later
a restaurant; fire 2000?]
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MAROMAS
MAROMAS, as seen
on the 1915 val map. Stop in southern Middletown established when the CV opened in 1871. [REFS: HDC/08/25/1871/02;
DC/09/21/1872/02]
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MARSHALLS
CORNERS [> SOUND BEACH1]
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MASONVILLE [> GROSVENORDALE]
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MASSAPEAG1
|
| Max Miller Collection |
|
| Max Miller Collection |
|
| Max Miller Collection |
MASSAPEAG1.
This was established
as a regular
timetable stop
in the town
of Montville probably from the 1849 opening of the NLW&P and, as
such, appears on the 1854NL map. The PUC notes at bottom left, probably
corresponding to the 1927 date of the last photos, say that there is a only
a platform here, which is seen in the foreground. That makes the status of the building, which, with cosmetic changes seems
to be the same in all the photos, unclear, at least at that time. The gentleman on the stairs over
to the right might just be waiting for a train, in any case, whatever the situation was. The
name of this station means 'great-water land' or 'land on the great cove,' that body of water being Massapeag
Cove, aka Haughton's, today Horton Cove, just to the south of this outcropping of land. [REFS: HDC/11/20/1865/02]
********************
MASSAPEAG2
|
| Montville Historical Society |
MASSAPEAG2. Based on the PUC notes above and the style of dress the woman displays,
it would seem more plausible that this simple shelter was put up in the late 1920s or 1930s for CVT riders. Passenger service
lasted until 1947.
********************
MECHANICSVILLE1
MECHANICSVILLE1. This location is about
a mile and a half above PUTNAM, just over the Thompson town border. There is no stop here on the 1851TT but, with the completion
of the East Thompson RR as part of the Boston and New York Central in 1854, a station was established where the line met the N&W. Seen first on an 1858TT, this THOMPSON JUNCTION
station became MECHANICSVILLE by 1871. Given the gap of the intervening years in our timetables, precisely
when this stop was renamed is unclear, but it seems safe to assume that there was some depot structure stood where shown on the 1856WC map. The railroad commissioners mention in 1877 that there is an abandoned
depot here that may be moved to Hampton where one is needed but the move had not been made yet. This availability may have
come about because MECHANICSVILLE2 had been built. [REFS: CRC1.1854.11; PTT107.1858.9;
CRC23.1876.27; RRL/1/8/1877; SL12.2.7]
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MECHANICSVILLE2
MECHANICSVILLE2. The newspaper said in 1865 that the Mechanicsville Co.
of Putnam was erecting "a nice new building in their village near the railroad," to be used as a depot, store, office,
and tenement for workers at the company's new mill. Though the wording is somewhat unclear, having this mean that the
depot was here and not at Putnam would explain how the abandoned MECHANICSVILLE1 could have been considered for use at Hampton,
as noted above. The image appears to be the "nice new building," seen at a later date when
it caught fire. The 1893 topographic map at upper left
shows the parallel N&W and BH&E lines, both under the control of the NY&NE by that time. The 1915 val map at lower left shows the location of the station at that time, just north of the junction
where the first one stood. The old NY&NE track is seen at the top of the map coming in from the east and about to cross
the N&W just south of town. [REFS: HDC/10/02/1865/02]
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MELROSE1
This stop in the town of East Windsor was established on the opening of the Connecticut Central in 1876. The first
station burned and was replaced in 1897. We have no photo yet.
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MELROSE2
MELROSE2. This new station was built in 1897 after the old one reportedly
burned. The 1915 val map shows the station on the west side of the track. [REFS: CRC45.1897.23]
********************
MERIDEN1
The first station was reportedly a tavern/store
at the first terminus in 1838, below Harbor Brook.
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MERIDEN2
|
| Leroy Roberts Collection |
MERIDEN2. Note the early H&NH open cab locomotive and the sign for the 'Railroad Refectory,'
the station waiting room in the addition that the H&NH put on the hotel behind the train. This building
was known first as the Meriden Hotel in 1842, when this woodcut is dated, and would later become the Conklin Hotel. Rockey
and some other sources say that the first station was where the Rogers block would be. This was also a hotel just out of sight
to the left on the south side of Main St. to which the station returned when the Conklin Hotel burned in the mid-1840s.
********************
MERIDEN3
MERIDEN3 was south
of Main St. and on the west side of the track, as shown on the 1852NH map. The depot was in yet another hotel in what was
called the Rogers Block.
********************
MERIDEN4
MERIDEN4.
This 1875 Bailey map [click here] shows the 1854 station above locator number '3' as of this date, at what would later be the
corner of Railroad Ave. and Colony St. The wooden structure burned in an 1862 fire, was rebuilt with a brick facade and
survived another fire in 1864. The freight depot is standing more or less in its original location, before being
moved north to make room for the building of MERIDEN5, also the later site of MERIDEN8 and MERIDEN9. Main St. crosses
the tracks to the far right. The '50' marks where MERIDEN2 in the Conklin Hotel stood before it burned and '51'
denotes the Rogers Block that served as MERIDEN1 and MERIDEN3.
[REFS: HC/11/13/1862/02]
********************
MERIDEN5
MERIDEN5. Opened September, 1882; similar to WALLINGFORD2 and NEW HAVEN4, reportedly 185 feet in length and with 19 rooms upstairs. Razed ca 1942.
[REFS: CRC30.1883.23; NHAR10.1882.6]
********************
MERIDEN6
MERIDEN6 was the depot opened by
the Meriden and Cromwell RR on Center St., just off Main St., in 1885. The map to the left is from 1893 and to the right is
a snippet from the Hughes and Bailey aero view of 1918 [click here]. The bottom photo is just northwest of this station. It shows a 7/19/1889 accident at the bridge over the NYNH&H on the new line 1888 line to Waterbury. The photo appears in the history [p30] of the successor
company, the Meriden, Waterbury & Connecticut River, by Glover A. Snow [click here]. The Consolidated must have been greatly annoyed at this incident after it fought long and hard to prevent the crossing
of its line by the upstart newcomer, claiming at one point in litigation that property rights on all parcels it owned went
down to the center of the Earth below!
********************
MERIDEN7
|
| Leory Roberts Collection |
|
| Dave Peters Collection |
MERIDEN7.
Glover Snow [p15] says the West Main St. station was "put into use" on 6/17/1889 and that track was still in place
to serve nearby factory sidings when he was writing in 1953 [p27].
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MERIDEN8
MERIDEN8. Opened 9/21/1942; razed 1971.
********************
MERIDEN9
The current
station was opened in 1970 by Penn Central.
********************
MERRITT 7
MERRITT 7. This
station opened on 7/29/1985 and was touted by the Times as being the only privately built
station in the state. That was probably true of existing stations still in service then, but the comment certainly
ignores the fact that many stations in Connecticut were built by towns and individuals and given to the railroads to guarantee
service at a particular location. Still, this was an innovative move to spur corporate and residential growth here where Norwalk
Tire and Rubber once had a sizeable presence with a stop called OAKWOOD AVENUE [see O stations] and
later the Caldor's department store chain had its administrative offices.
A comparison of the upper photos in 2010 and
the lower earlier shot shows the growth in this corporate enclave since 1985 with a combination of refurbished older buildings
and new construction. [REFS: NYT/07/28/1985/11/3]
********************
MERROW1
|
| Leroy Roberts Collection |
MERROW1. This stop in the town of Mansfield was established in
1850 by the NLW&P. The location is seen on the 1857TC map, with the village called Merrowville there,
and in the top photo. The bottom photo is rather a curiosity. It does not match the first station either in windows, foundation, or orientation to
the track. The distances to New London and Brattleboro, 40 and 81 miles respectively, are written, seemingly on the photo
and not the building itself. Was this an intervening station or did someone just doctor the photo to make it look so?
********************
MERROW2
|
| Max Miller Collection |
MERROW2. The photo on the right is probably from 1927 judging from
the handwriting style and other PUC photos taken that year. The station was opened by the CVT probably
ca. 1900.
********************
MERWINSVILLE1
MERWINSVILLE1, as seen on the 1854LC map. First called GAYLORD'S BRIDGE. This was the village by the river named for the Galliard/Gaylord family settlers,
and this was the station name used in 1843, on an 1851 HRR
Fourth of July broadside, and on an 1851TT. Much has been made of local entrepreneur Sylvanus Merwin's buying
of property east of the village center to capitalize on the coming of the railroad, by profiting from the land sale for
the right of way, by building a trackside hotel with ticket office and waiting rooms, and by signing a
railroad meal-stop contract that lasted until 1877. The renaming of the station as MERWINSVILLE
probably had less to do with the railroad deal, as is generally thought, than with the appointment of the
ambitious Merwin, already station master, as postmaster in place of John Gaylord. The post office was
moved to the hotel and the name was changed
from Gaylordsville to Merwinsville, with the HRR consequently
renaming the station. The gap in our timetables from 1852 to 1857 allows us to first see this change only in 1858. While would the post office designation would be changed back with the reappointment
of Gaylord in 1861, the station name would remain MERWINSVILLE for the next half century. [REFS:
RF/02/15/1843/02; 1851TT; HDC/07/09/1853/02; PTH107.1858.15; Samuel Orcutt, History
of the towns of New Milford and Bridgewater, Connecticut, 1703-1882, p384+; C56; R55; NL9.7.7]
********************
MERWINSVILLE2
MERWINSVILLE2. In 1905, a falling out with Merwin's son-in-law, Ed
Hurd, who had taken over as station agent, caused the railroad to put a ticket office in the freight depot just south of the
hotel and make that the new railroad station. The Merwinsville Hotel Restoration website [click here] says incorrectly that the converted freight depot was torn down in 1915. In fact, it was
moved at that time to become LIME ROCK2 [see L stations], as shown in this photo, after the previous station there burned.
We are keeping an eye peeled for a shot of this structure with a MERWINSVILLE signboard. [REFS: R54]
********************
MERWINSVILLE3
|
| Max Miller Collection |
MERWINSVILLLE3. A new combination station
in 1915 replaced the converted freight depot that was moved to become LIME ROCK3. In spite of the bad feeling between Hurd and
the railroad, the name of the stop was not changed to GAYLORDSVILLE until 1918, reportedly on February 1. Timetables seem
to bear this out. The photo at upper left appeared in the newspaper when this
station was purchased from the railroad in 1968 and moved about a 1,000 feet south and to the east side of the track in the fall of
1971. The delightful saga of the purchase and move is in the New York Times as is the later acquisition of a caboose.
The
tale of the stations built here, their names, and the structures themselves is unique enough historically, but even more
remarkable for the fact that the hotel, the converted freight depot, and the final combination station all still stand today.
[REFS:
PTH925.1917.32;
NHAR45.1916.10;
NYT/01/02/1971/R1; NYT/11/10/1971/01?; D70; R54+]
__________________________________________
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