Stoughton Railroad Station

History

Stoughton station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in downtown Stoughton, Massachusetts, United States. It is the terminus of the Stoughton Branch of the Providence/Stoughton Line. Stoughton has one platform (split across Wyman Street) serving one track; the platform has a mini-high section for accessibility. The granite Richardson Romanesque station building, designed by Charles Brigham, has a 62-foot (19 m) clock tower.

The Stoughton Branch Railroad opened from Canton – on the Boston and Providence Railroad (B&P) mainline – to Stoughton on April 7, 1845. The first two stations were destroyed that year by fire and wind. Stoughton was the terminal of the branch until 1855, and the terminal of passenger service from 1866 to around 1890. The present station building was constructed in 1887–1888; it was called Stoughton Central until 1896. The B&P was leased in 1888 by the Old Colony Railroad, which was in turn leased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893. Under the New Haven, the branch saw a mixture of service until 1958, when Stoughton became the terminal.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority purchased the Stoughton Branch and other lines in 1973. The station building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It was restored from 1977 to 1988, with the mini-high platform added. The station building closed again in 2009, prompting the town to acquire it a decade later with plans for restoration. The proposed but unfunded Phase 2 of the South Coast Rail project, would re-extend service from Stoughton to Fall River and New Bedford. Under that plan, which is opposed by the town, the station would be relocated south with full-length accessible platforms and a second track.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. The official nomination form is linked under Sources.