Former Maine Central Railroad Train Station Crawford Notch NH
Crawford Depot, Gorham New Hampshire
The Crawford Depot served as an important link in the development of the Maine Central Railroad (previously the Portland Ogdensburg Railroad) which surpassed any railroad of its time in conception and achievement, as well as scenic interest. It played an important role in the development of the Crawford Notch region as a resort area.
The Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad, charted in 1867, opened rail service from Portland to Fabyans in less than eight years. Construction involved unusual difficulties and expense due to the sharp rise in elevation, 1369 feet in the 30 miles between North Conway and Fabyans with an average 116 feet to the mile for nine consecutive miles between Bemis Place and Crawford House. The railroad, however, soon made North Conway and Bartlett centers of activity, A popular Guide Book declared, "No other railroad in the region traverses such imposing scenery, wild gorges...majestic peaks and advised passengers to sit on the right side of the trains for the finest views during the northward ride." In 1888, the Portland and Ogdensburg fell into the hands of the Maine Central and was renamed the Mountain Division of that railroad.
The Maine Central Mountain Division and the construction of extensions of other existing railroads greatly stimulated travel. Soon thousands of summer visitors came visiting where hundreds had previously. As a consequence of this increased travel, an era of hotel construction and enlargement began. In 1853, when fire destroyed the Mount Washington House, the Crawford House was enlarged and the Old Notch House was repaired and refinished to provide accommodations for travelers. These two were also destroyed by fire, but were soon replaced by the Crawford which stood until 1977. The Depot, built by Maine Central in 1891 next to the Crawford House, served as the main entry point for passengers destined for Crawford Notch, as well as a convenient stop for those touring the area by rail. In addition, the Depot served the local community as a post office and freight station.
The Depot in Crawford Notch is one of many examples of railroad architecture that exists in the area. It is unique, though, in that it is one of the most visually prominent and appealing examples in existence. It stands at the crest of the approach to the Notch, and its domination of the landscape is considerably magnified since the recent destruction of the Crawford House. Its preservation in its existing surroundings should serve to enhance the public's appreciation of the area's resort and rail history.
Crawford Depot is one of the best examples of railroad architecture in the Queen Anne style remaining in northern New England. Though small in size, the station is rich in detail and sophisticated in design. The Maine Central Railroad gave special attention to the building because the structure stood at a symbolic point. Its elevation of 1,900 feet above sea level made it the highest depot on the Mountain Division of the Maine Central Railroad. The building stood just beyond the impressive gateway of Crawford Notch, a natural gorge that was widened for railroad traffic in 1875 with hand tools and black powder. The station served the Crawford House, rebuilt in 1853 as one of the finest hotels in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
The building displays the characteristic hallmarks of the Queen Anne style, including corner tower, a canted fireplace bay, irregular fenestration, stained glass, and richly patterned shingles and sheathing. These features render the station more ambitious than any of the other depots on the line through Crawford Notch and architecturally more interesting than many of the connecting lines of the Boston and Maine and smaller railroads. At the same time, the station shares stylistic features with other railroad buildings in the area, and is therefore important as part of a stylistic tradition. Immediately south of the gate of the notch stood the Mount Willard section foreman's dwelling, built in 1887 on a narrow ledge at the end of the impressive Willey Brook Bridge. The building, which burned in 1972, shared several features with Crawford Depot, including an attached octagonal tower with a steep faceted roof and patterned wall surfaces. Willey House and Bartlett Stations, though different in form, shared with Crawford Depot details of stickwork and patterned siding. At the nearby Fabyan House hotel stands a small hip-roofed depot (much altered) with a projecting roof canopy supported by braces identical to those on the Crawford station and with similar wall sheathing. Thus, while deriving its architectural vocabulary from local usage as well as from the broader American Queen Anne style, Crawford Depot is symbolically and stylistically one of the most important railroad buildings in northern New England.
Building Description
Crawford Depot is a rectangular wooden building with a hipped roof, two chimneys, a lower pent roof on three sides for the shelter of passengers, an octagonal tower on the northwest corner, and a canted square bay on the southwest corner. It is a small building, measuring 26 by 30 feet, and is sheathed with a variety of siding which emphasizes its various features and renders the structure a good example of the Queen Anne style.
The west side of the building, facing the tracks of the Maine Central Railroad, is treated as the principal elevation. Entrance to the main lobby is gained through a doorway in the approximate center of the facade, the door having large raised panels below a plate glass window, and a row of four small panels above. Above the door is a transom sash. The door is flanked by two tall windows which, like most of the 16 windows on the first floor, have lower sashes glazed with single panes of clear glass and upper sashes glazed with smaller lights, some of them of stained glass. Below the windows, the building is sheathed with beaded ceiling board applied diagonally except in a few of the narrower panels. The windows have plain square casings and the wall piers between them are clapboarded. Windows are capped by a heavy nine-inch molding that encircles the north, west, and south elevations of the building. Above this molding, beneath the pent roof, the wall surfaces of the building are sheathed with beaded ceiling boards applied vertically.
The north, west, and south elevations of the building are protected by a deeply projecting pent roof which is supported by sawn stickwork brackets and is covered with asphalt shingles. Molded wooden gutters are applied to the fascia of this roof; leaders from these gutters run diagonally back to the main walls of the structure and connect to cast iron downspouts which provides underground drainage.
Above the pent roof is the main, cornice of the building, consisting, of a wide, flat frieze board above which is a row of closely spaced brackets sawn to an ogee profile and separated by sections of bed molding. Above is an ogee crown molding. The latter encircles the octagonal tower, dividing its upper stages into a lower zone covered with wooden shingles having butts sawn to an undulating pattern and an upper clapboarded zone.
The upper portion of the tower is pierced on the north and west faces by fixed sashes with some diagonal muntins and stained glazing. The tower cornice consists of a bed molding with dentils and a heavy, doubled crown molding. Above is a steep octagonal roof which, like the other roof surfaces of the building, is covered with asphalt shingles. The peak of the tower roof is capped by an ornamental copper finial.
The west slope of the main roof of the building is pierced by a single scuttle near the center of the building; this formerly gave access to a semaphore signal that originally extended from the base of the tower.
The interior of the depot is sheathed with half-inch beaded whitewood and is further embellished with baseboards and chair rails. Windows and doorways have five-inch-wide molded casings with corner blocks. The floors are birch. In the southwest corner is a fireplace, set diagonally into the corner bay. The fireplace has a hearth of decorated terra cotta, a stone mantelpiece, and a brick chimney.
Original appearance: The interior of the building has changed only slightly. The structure originally contained two privies with separate entrances; later these were altered to include three bathroom lavatories with porcelain and marble fixtures and a common entrance. They are no longer in use. At one point, a decorative drinking fountain was located in the main part of the building.
The interior, originally lighted by ten oil lamps, later received an electrified chandelier in the main lobby. Electrical work is now in progress, with more fixtures planned.
The exterior of the building has been altered only by the application of asphalt shingles to the roofs, by the loss of some original panes of stained glass, by the removal of a semaphore which originally rose from an arm that extended from the base of the tower, and by the loss of semicircular decorative drops originally applied to the lower edge of the fascia of the pent roof.
Front & side elevation (1981)
Front & side elevation Historic photograph (date unknown)
