Williamstown Railroad Station, Williamstown Massachusetts
The Troy & Greenfield Railroad Company began railroad service to Williamstown in 1859. The station was a small, frame structure, located approximately on the site of the present station. Use of the station increased after the opening of the Hoosac Tunnel in 1875, after which the station was used as a base for prioritizing the order in which trains might enter the tunnel from the west.
To accommodate the station's expanded role, the new owners, the Fitchburg Railroad Company, laid new track and constructed a quarter-roundhouse and a freight yard nearby. In 1897, they announced plans to renovate and modernize the station. Before such plans could be implemented, however, the station burned to the ground. Construction of the existing station began quickly afterward, with the new station opening to the public on February 21, 1899.
Original & Subsequent Owners:
- Horace Stephenson sold property to Troy and Greenfield Railroad Corporation on July 13, 1852.
- Troy and Greenfield surrendered mortgages on property to Commonwealth of Massachusetts on October 13, 1862.
- Fitchburg Railroad Co. acquired the property in the late 1870s or 1880s, the date has not been established.
- In 1906, the Boston and Maine Railroad Corporation bought the Fitchburg Railroad and all its holdings.
- On November 27, 1959, the Boston and Maine sold the property to John P. Connors of Williamstown.
- On March 28, 1972, ownership was passed to John P. and Margaret S. Connors.
