Monday, February 13, 2012

Lost Train Stations: North Station - I and II

North and Union Stations, early 1890s.


The original North Station, Causeway street. The old Boston and Lowell depot with its Mansard roofs remains to the left of the new buildings.



Heres' a later view, showing a walkway from the elevated line.




It's taken a while, but I've finally returned to discuss North Union and North Stations. The original station, shown above, combined the old Lowell station with two adjoining buildings to serve traffic from north of Boston and that coming through the Hoosac Tunnel through western Massachusetts. It was built by adding new structures to the existing 1878 Lowell depot in 1893. By this time, most traffic was under the control of the Boston and Maine line. Just as South Station combined traffic that once was served by independent depots, the new North station was a union of formerly independently operating depots in one facility.



Aerial view of the new North Station, with Boston Garden. Also note the elevated tracks in the foreground (BPL).

In 1927-28, the entire edifice was torn down and replaced with a new North Station. Both an elevated line and streetcars connected with the new location, and Boston Garden was built on top of the station. The Hotel Manger was added adjacent to the station in 1930, and was later renamed the Madison.


Here's a Disney-fied version of North Station, free of actual city streets.


And finally, a more realistic view, featuring the Hotel Manger, later re-named the Madison. Note the elevated line leading to Charlestown.

7 comments:

  1. Here are a few other good pictures of the Hotel Manger:

    http://www.bambinomusical.com/Scollay/Madison.html

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  2. Mark:

    The Manger is where the O'Neil building is today, so those tracks are going to Lechmere. You can date the photograph with just the Charlestown Elevated further above to between 1901 and 1912. The elevated tracks to Lechmere were built in 1912.

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  3. Hi, this is a great site. Thanks for pictures.

    Can you tell me, what is the building to the right of the Garden in the aerial view? I found a reference on an old street map that named the building "Garden Exposition Hall". Do you know anything about it?

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  4. It was built in 1928 as the North Station Terminal Building, renamed the North Station Industrial Building. It appears as if railroad tracks entered the building at the rear.

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  5. The building g to the right of the Garden was 150 Causeway St. It housed the corporate headquarters for the Boston and Maine Railroad.

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    Replies
    1. It was later called the Annelex Building. Someone told me they were a manufacturer of office equipment or materials.

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