Stations

Windsor Locks Train Station (1875)

The Windsor Locks Preservation Association was formed in 2004 with a main focus of preserving the old Windsor Locks Train Station, which is currently vacant and in a deteriorating condition, having survived arson in 2000. Built in 1875, the station was originally painted cream-yellow, but a thorough cleaning in the 1940s has since left the building‘s red brick exposed. The station was closed in 1971 and saved from demolition by the The Save The Station Committee, which successfully applied to have the building placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Waterbury Union Station (1909)

This week we look at buildings in Waterbury. Opened in 1909, Waterbury‘s old Union Station building, famous for its striking clock tower, was built by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and was designed by McKim, Mead and White. The 245 foot campanile, or tower, was added to the building at the request of a railroad executive who wanted a copy of the Torre del Mangia, built in 1325-1344 in Sienna, Italy. The tower’s clock, the largest in New England, was made by the Seth Thomas Company and the bell was installed in 1916. The tower features eight she-wolf gargoyles, reminders of the story of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. The former station now houses the offices of the Republican-American newspaper.

Union Station, New London (1888)

When it was built in 1888, New London’s Union Station made a powerful architectural statement with its strong massing. It was planned to integrate New London transportation, which included service by six railroad companies. Unlike the preceding train dept of 1852, Union Station was on the city side of the railroad tracks and blocked the view of the city’s active harbor and busy rail yards from the commercial district on State and Bank Streets. Commissioned in 1885, the station was designed by H.H. Richardson, but was not completed until after his death in 1886. The building represents a variation of his distinctive Romanesque style in a scheme recalling his plan for Harvard’s Sever Hall (1880). It is therefore referred to as Richardson’s “Last Station.” Saved from demolition and renovated in the 1970s, the station has recently been again restored.