Swampscott station

Swampscott station is a historic railroad station in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Located in the southwest portion of Swampscott near the Lynn border, it serves the MBTA Commuter Rail Newburyport/Rockport Line. The historic Stick/Eastlake-style depot building, was originally built in 1868 for the Eastern Railroad, but is no longer in use. The location still serves as an accessible MBTA Commuter Rail stop and park-and-ride location for Swampscott and adjoining Marblehead. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as Swampscott Railroad Depot.

Swampscott
The 1868-built Swampscott station in 2008
General information
Location	10 Railroad Avenue Swampscott, Massachusetts
Line(s)	Eastern Route
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Parking	131 spaces ($4.00 fee)
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	3
History
Opened	1836 (original station)
Rebuilt	1868 (current station) 1997 (renovation)
Passengers
2018	891 (weekday average boardings)^[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station Lynn toward North Station Newburyport/​Rockport Line Salem toward Newburyport or Rockport
Swampscott Railroad Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Swampscott, Massachusetts, USA
Coordinates	42°28′25″N 70°55′21″W / 42.47361°N 70.92250°W / 42.47361; -70.92250
Built	1868 ^[3]^[4]
Architect	Cram, George W.; Eastern RR ^[3]^[4]
Architectural style	Stick/Eastlake
NRHP reference No.	98001106^[2]
Added to NRHP	August 28, 1998

History

 

Swampscott station around 1900

The existing station building was originally built in 1868 for the Eastern Railroad; it was designed by George W. Cram, a Boston housewright.^[3][4][5] The ticket office in the station building closed on February 22, 1952.^[6]

On February 28, 1956, a southbound Salem–Boston commuter train crashed into the rear of a stopped Portsmouth–Boston local train just north of the station during a snowstorm. The collision, blamed on the engineer operating at unsafe speeds for the conditions, killed 13 people and injured 283.^{[7][8]: 317}

By 1977, the station building was used by the Jaycees.^[9] The structure was renovated by a group of locals in the 1980s to save it from demolition, but the work was temporary. In 1997, a town committee raised $15,000 to restore the exterior to its original condition, but no interior work was done.^[10] On August 28, 1998 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]

In 2005, the town attempted to sell the station to a developer, but negotiations stalled in 2006. In 2010, the town again began soliciting proposals for reuse; however, the station has not received proper interior renovations, making reuse difficult.^[10] A December 2012 town report advocated for mixed-use development at the station, as well as a pedestrian crossing between the platforms.^[11] In 2012, Swampscott station was signed as "Stanton Station" for use in the 2013 film Grown Ups 2.^[12]

Rail trail

In 2004, a town report proposed various transportation improvements, including improving pedestrian and bicycle access to the station from other areas in the town. This included the construction of a mixed-use path on the former Swampscott Branch right-of-way.^[13] Service on the Swampscott Branch, which diverged just north of the station, was discontinued in 1959 as the Boston & Maine Railroad shed unprofitable branch lines. The northern section in Marblehead was previously converted to part of the Marblehead Rail Trail, which runs along the former Marblehead Branch to South Salem. In 2012, the town drafted an eminent domain claim to obtain part of the right-of-way near the station from National Grid, who was not opposed to the trail but had much stricter requirements to allow conversion.^[14]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, Massachusetts

References

1. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
3. . University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth Library. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
4. Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation and Essex National Heritage Commission (May 2005). "Swampscott Reconnaissance Report" (PDF). Essex County Landscape Inventory. Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
5. Roberts, Oliver Ayer (1895). History of the Military Company of the Massachusetts, now called the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, 1637-1888. A. Mudge and Son. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
6. "B. and M. to Close 4 Ticket Offices". Boston Globe. February 7, 1952. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Train Crashed at 50 M.P.H., Three Say". Boston Globe. March 9, 1956. pp. 1, 13 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. ISBN 9780942147124.
9. Henry, Alan P. (August 10, 1977). "There's no depot like an old depot". Boston Globe. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Glidden, Debra (28 July 2010). "Tenants show interest in Swampscott depot". The Daily Item. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
11. Metropolitan Area Planning Council (30 December 2012). "Swampscott Downtown Vision and Action Plan" (PDF). Town of Swampscott. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
12. Date, Terry (1 June 2012). "Updated: Welcome To Grown Ups 2 Movie Set "Stanton Station"". Swampscott Patch. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
13. Metropolitan Area Planning Council (2004). "Swampscott Community Development Plan" (PDF). Town of Swampscott. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
14. Moulton, Cyrus (29 February 2012). "Eminent domain sought for section of proposed rail trail". The Daily Item. Retrieved 2 August 2014.

External links

  Media related to Swampscott station at Wikimedia Commons

• MBTA - Swampscott