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Gettysburg's Railroad Station:
The Gettysburg Railroad Station:
This elegant station was completed in 1859. It served travelers until passenger service ended in 1942.
When contractors John and Valentine Warner completed the original two-story brick building in May 1859, it became Gettysburg's latest example of the fashionable Italiante style, characterized by low pitched roofs, decorative cornice brackets, arched windows, and sometimes, as here, cupolas.
The Gettysburg station building was designed as a "head-house" where the rail line ended. Its architecture set it apart from typical one-story plain wood or brick rural train station structures.
The second floor was used as an office for the railroad company. The lower floor held a ticket counter and two waiting rooms, which at the time were gender-separated to protect the sensibilities of women and children. The men's or "general" waiting room was on the station's south side. President Lincoln and his party probably moved through the general waiting room when arriving and departing Gettysburg in November 1863.
A double doorway led to the covered passenger platform extending to the rear of the station, where the main track line terminated. A local passenger reminisced: "Remember how the passenger car was cut loose and shot into the big shed... when the shed had been traversed... you had your choice of ladies' or gentlemen's room."
The building was expanded in 1886 to its current configuration. The one-story addition accommodated a new ticket and operator's office, an enlarge ladies waiting room, and a baggage room. The old passenger platform was removed, and boarding was moved to a new platform that paralleled the track passing alongside the building, as it does today. |