Birdsboro station (Reading Railroad)

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Birdsboro
Reading Railroad Station, Birdsboro, PA 1907.jpg
Reading - Wilmington & Northern station
(1884-1885, demolished 1963)
LocationSouth Furnace Street, Birdsboro, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°06′39″N 75°19′18″W / 40.1107°N 75.3216°W / 40.1107; -75.3216
Line(s)Wilmington & Northern (Reading)
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks2
Construction
Structure typeat-grade
ArchitectFrank Furness (attributed)
Levi Focht (likely contractor)
Architectural styleEclectic/Queen Anne
History
Openedc.1870 (W & N depot)
1878 (Reading - Main Line)
1884 (PRR station)
1885 (Reading - W & N station)
Closed1947 (PRR)
1949 (Reading - W & N)
1963 (Reading - W & N station demolished)
1981 (Reading - Main Line station)
ElectrifiedNo
Former services
Preceding station SEPTA.svg SEPTA Following station
Franklin Street
toward Pottsville
 Pottsville Line Pottstown
toward Reading Terminal
Preceding station Reading Railroad Following station
toward Pottsville
 Main Line
toward Philadelphia

Birdsboro station can refer to three passenger railway stations in or near Birdsboro, Pennsylvania.

The Reading Railroad built a Birdsboro station (1878, demolished?) on its Main Line in Exeter Township, on the opposite side of the Schuylkill River from Birdsboro. The Pennsylvania Railroad opened a station (extant) in the borough in 1884. The Wilmington & Northern Railroad established a freight line to Birdsboro in 1870, but it was not until after its merger with the Reading Company that its passenger station (1884-1885, demolished 1963) was built in the borough.

Reading Railroad[]

The Main Line of the Reading Railroad opened in 1842, and ran along the left bank of the Schuylkill River.[1]: 8  This was built to compete with the Schuylkill Canal, which ran along the river's right bank (and through Birdsboro). Transportation by rail was much more expensive, but the Reading could deliver coal (or other freight) to Philadelphia in 5 hours, versus 6 days via the canal.[1]: 8  By the late 1850s, the Reading was carrying more tonnage than the canal.[1]: 8  In 1870, the Reading leased the Schuylkill Canal and turned its right of way into a parallel rail line,[1]: 9  bypassing the City of Reading.[2]

Main Line station[]

The Reading built a Birdsboro station (1878, demolished?) on its Main Line in Exeter Township, on the opposite side of the river from the borough, and just east of its Schuylkill River Bridge - Birdsboro.[2]

The Reading Railroad filed for bankruptcy in 1971, and was merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to form Conrail, in 1976.[1]: 9  Passenger service on the Reading's Main Line was assumed by the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and provided by SEPTA diesel service. SEPTA cancelled rail service on the line in 1981, replacing it with bus service.[3] Conrail was broken up in 1999, and its assets divided between Norfolk Southern Railway and CSX Transportation.

Wilmington & Northern Railroad[]

"The Wilmington & Northern Railroad, [opened] in 1870, extending from Birdsboro southwardly to Chester county line, a distance of ten miles."[4]: 309  Brothers Edward and George Brooke were third generation Birdsboro ironmakers, and consolidated their holdings in 1871 as the E. & G. Brooke Iron Company (later Birdsboro Steel).[5] The Wilmington & Northern began as a freight line, providing access to the Brookes' iron ore mines in southern Berks County, and transporting their workers back and forth.

Following the W & N's merger with the Reading Railroad, the line was extended another 53.6 mi (86.3 km) to Wilmington, Delaware. Passenger service was established between the City of Reading and Wilmington in 1878.[5] The Reading's Wilmington & Northern Division divided at Birdsboro, either crossing the Schuylkill River to merge with the Reading's Main Line; or making a 90 degree turn west, as the Reading's Belt Line.[1]

The Wilmington & Northern Railroad, built through the Hay Creek Valley, opened a line to Birdsboro in 1870. George and Edward Brooke were early investors of the company. Following its merger with the Reading Railroad, the Wilmington & Northern tracks served as the route of the Belt Line, a freight track used to avoid the congested Reading area. Passenger service ended on the "W & N" in 1949.[6]

Reading - W & N station[]

The necessity for the new passenger station at Birdsboro has been discussed in previous reports. The building, which is finished and in use, is a commodious and substantial structure.[7]

Frank Furness was the Reading's chief architect, and design of the station is attributed to him.[1]: 97  Contractor Levi Focht, a Birdsboro resident who constructed many of Furness's buildings for the Reading,[8] probably built it. Construction of the station was begun in 1884,[9] and completed in 1885, at a cost of $4,828.20, equal to $139,070 today.[7] A freight station was also built, at a cost of $665.84, equal to $19,179 today.[7] Following the curve of the tracks, the station was set at a slight angle to Birdsboro's street grid, and was located along the east side of Furnace Street. Safety gates were installed at the grade crossings of Furnace Street and West First Street.[7] Prior to the station's construction, a W & N depot had stood at the site.[10]

The photograph above shows the station in 1907, with the tracks in the foreground. Its first story was faced with stone, with an overhang, carried on brackets, continuous around all four sides. The east facade (facing the tracks) featured two doors and two triple windows at the north end (waiting room?), and a bay window, door and double window at the south end (ticket office?). The second story was faced with fish-scale shingles, and featured a large gable with a triple window screened by tracery, two small triangular dormers, and another gable with a triple window and jerkinhead roof. The station's roof was probably slate, and its ridges were accented with cresting and finials. The building featured two chimneys, with one of them breaking through the north gable.

Furness had made c.1875 alterations to Edward Brooke's Greek Revival mansion, Brooke Manor (uphill from the station),[11] and George Brooke funded Furness's expansion of Birdsboro's Episcopal church, 1884-1885 (contemporaneous with the station).[12] When George Brooke's eldest son married in 1887, Furness designed (and Focht built) a Birdsboro mansion for the couple.[13]

The Wilmington & Northern station at Birdsboro was demolished in 1963. The site is now a parking lot opposite the entrance to St. Mark's Lutheran Church.

Pennsylvania Railroad[]

The Pennsylvania Railroad challenged the Reading's dominance in transportion of coal by building its own Schuylkill Branch.[1]: 9  PRR "constructed the railroad from Philadelphia to Reading, by way of Norristown and Phoenixville, during 1883 and 1884, opening it to Reading on November 15, 1884. In the course of its construction the company erected four substantial bridges across the Schuylkill within the county—Douglassville, Poplar Neck, Little Dam, and Reading—and three handsome passenger stations: Douglassville, Birdsboro, Reading."[4]: 39  Engineering for the PRR Schuylkill Branch bridges and viaducts was provided by Wilson Brothers & Company.[14]

The Pennsylvania Railroad—Southern Division constructed a line from Philadelphia through the Schuylkill Valley in 1884. Its right of way in Birdsboro, from Cinder to Furnace Street, was a wooden trestle braced with gravel and fill, embedded in a stone wall. Atop West First Street hill, its crossing was at ground level. ... Railroad bridges crossed all streets from Furnace to Cinder Street, and were removed subsequently.[6]

PRR station[]

Panorama of Birdsboro, 1890 (detail). The Reading - W & N station (#11) is at upper left. The PRR station (#10) is at lower right. The PRR freight house is between them.

PRR built a Birdsboro station about 300 ft (91 m) north of the Reading - Wilmington & Northern station.

The station was erected on the corner of West First and Furnace Street. Ticket sales, a smoking room, and a special ladies' waiting area were on the first level, while the stationmaster and his family resided on the second level. In its peak years, 1910-1925, there were seven passenger trains daily. Excursions to the Jersey shore were popular with the public. Passenger runs on the Pennsylvania South Division ended in 1947. In later years the station was occupied commercially. It is still standing and currently houses a business.[6]

PRR also built a wooden freight house on the corner opposite its station.[15] All three buildings are visible in a lithographed 1890 panoramic view of the town.

By the early 21st century, the PRR freight house lay abandoned, and was slated for demolition.[15] In 2015, the Colebrookdale Railroad Trust, a preservation society, received a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to relocate the building to Colebrookdale.[15] The newly relocated freight house will be part of a revitalized 40 miles of the Colebrookdale Line, between Pottstown and Boyertown, and serve as a heritage railway geared towards tourists.[16]

The PRR station survives, although much altered, and is now a restaurant, Uncle Jack's Corner.

  • PRR Freight House (relocated 2015)

  • PRR Station (now Uncle Jack's Corner). Note historical marker in the foreground, right.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Laura Catalano and Kurt D. Zwikl, Along the Schuylkill River (Arcadia Publishing, 2009).
  2. ^ a b Schuylkill Navigation Company, Map of Birdsboro, Berks County, PA. (October 1942).
  3. ^ "Rail Service Marks End of an Era". The News Herald. Perkasie, Pennsylvania. July 29, 1981. p. 1. Retrieved February 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  4. ^ a b Morton L. Montgomery, Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, Volume 1 (Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1909).[1]
  5. ^ a b Morton L. Montgomery, History of Berks County in Pennsylvania (Philadelphia: Everts, Peck & Richards, 1886), p. 895.
  6. ^ a b c Historical marker at West First & Furnace Streets (outside Uncle Jack's Corner), Birdsboro.
  7. ^ a b c d Ninth Annual Report of the Directors of the Wilmington & Northern R. R. Co. for the Year 1885 (Philadelphia: W. H. Pile, printer, 1886), pp. 6-7, 9.
  8. ^ George E. Thomas, Frank Furness: Architecture in the Age of the Great Machines (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2018), p. 128.
  9. ^ Eighth Annual Report of the Directors of the Wilmington & Northern R. R. Co. for the Year 1884 (Philadelphia: W. H. Pile, printer, 1885), p. 6.
  10. ^ A. M. Davis, Illustrated Historical Atlas of Berks County, Pennsylvania (Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Publishing House, 1876), plate 36.
  11. ^ Brooke Manor House from Historic American Buildings Survey.
  12. ^ George E. Thomas (1982-04-08). National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: St. Michael's Protestant Episcopal Church, Parish House and Rectory PDF (542.16 KB). National Park Service.
  13. ^ "Edward Brooke's New Home at Birdsboro," The Reading Times, July 21, 1887, p. 1.
  14. ^ Wilson Brothers & Co., Catalogue of Work Executed (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1885), p. 24.[2]
  15. ^ a b c "Grant to fund relocation of train terminal in Birdsboro". Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  16. ^ "Colebrookdale Rail Line gets Birdsboro building". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.

Coordinates: 40°15′45″N 75°48′25″W / 40.262413°N 75.807037°W / 40.262413; -75.807037

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