Former Erie Railroad Depot in Aurora OH
Aurora Train Station, Aurora Ohio
In 1854 the Mahoning Railroad laid its tracks through Aurora stimulating a small cottage industry of cheese manufacture into one of the larger areas of cheese production in the United States. By 1904 when the existing station was built, four million pounds of cheese was being shipped from its freight area. The site housed two main east-west sets of tracks and two spurs to handle the export of cheese. A disastrous flood in 1913 wiped out the industrial area of Aurora. Changes in production, economy, and the rising cost of raw milk accounted for the abandoning of cheese production and rebuilding of the industrial area, leaving the station the only significant structure associated with the commercial processing of cheese in Aurora.
Aurora was also known as a fashionable area for recreation. A "Picnic Lake" was developed along the Mahoning line known as "Pond Station", presently known as "Geauga Lake Amusement Park and "Sea World." The designers of the station considered the tourist trade of Aurora. The building being stick style was richly detailed inside and out. A massive seven-foot overhang supported by chamfered brackets was created to protect and shade waiting passengers. The public areas of the station are richly detailed, with heavily coved cornice windows and doors along with wainscotted wide chair rails.
So attractive was the area, the Van Swearingen's, developers of Shaker Heights, eyed Aurora as an extension of their residential paradise. Other developers saw the attraction to Aurora and several inns, liveries, and in 1920's a golf course, were built within walking distance of the station, to provide overnight accommodations for the Picnic Lake. The most prominent of these inns were the Aurora House and Livery, Aurora Inn, and Gray's Hotel.
The station continued to serve commuters to and from Cleveland up to the 1960s when Conrail acquired the line and building. After the elimination of the commuter service, the station fell into disrepair.
Conrail tried to demolish the building In 1982, but Aurora was able to halt the destruction. Through public and private pressures, the structure and site were split off of the railroad's right-of-way and turned over to private ownership. In August of 1984, Demming Financial Services acquired the structure and 1.35 acres of land. They restored the exterior and renovated the interior into offices for their use, using the original detailing throughout the building.
The Aurora Station was built as a combination railroad station by the Erie Railroad during the presidency of Frederick Underwood. This was a major period of rebuilding for the company although this station was rebuilt out of direct need rather than simply a desire to upgrade the local facilities.
The Erie Railroad seems to have been less inclined toward standardized depot designs than other railroad companies, so the Aurora Station cannot be seen as an element of that type of pattern. It does, however, contain the architectural forms and finishes typical of many turn-of-the-century railroad stations and is an important local manifestation of these architectural trends.
Building Description
The building has a rectangular plan with a rectangular bay window. The roof is hipped with seven-foot overhangs supported by heavy timber brackets. The structure Is elevated above the ground by a system of concrete piers supporting a heavy timber floor structure. Wall construction is 2 x 6 balloon framing supporting site fabricated roof trusses.
The most distinctive element of the structure are the chamfered 6 x 6 brackets which support the seven-foot overhangs and built-in gutter system. The siding is lapped with mitered corners (5' exposure) up to within four feet of the soffit. The top four feet of the wall is stuccoed between the windows and brackets. The soffit Is sheathed with a 'V' groove tongue and groove paneling matching the interior wainscoting. The public and ticket areas were originally located in the west third of the building have large 3' x 7' double-hung windows. The six 3' x 7' windows of the original waiting room to the extreme west of the building are 6/6. The five windows of the ticket bay are 1/1. The upper half of the public doors are nine-light with two solid panels in the lower half. The public doors include an eight-light transom. The remaining central and easterly two-thirds of the building housed the public restrooms and freight area which had center pivot four-light windows located high within the stuccoed area of the siding. The north and south freight doors were restored from a partial door found on the site and original photographs. The freight doors have two nine light upper sections with two solid lower panels. Above each door is a twenty-light transom. The freight area was unfinished. In August 1984, the exterior of the building was restored and interior renovated subdividing the freight area into office space detailed to compliment the original detailing of the public areas. The public and ticket areas have vertical 'V' groove tongue and groove paneling and chair rails. Above the chair rails the horizontal tongue and groove paneling on the walls and ceilings were removed to restore the exterior soffits and replaced with fire code gypsum board and a suspended acoustical ceiling to meet local fire code. The suspended ceiling is hung four feet lower than the original ceiling of fourteen feet to facilitate insulation and the mechanical system. The heavy window trim with returning cove cornices have all been restored or duplicated in oak in their original locations. The original interior doors have been restored. All new doors match the original in detailing. When the station was sold by the railroad in 1982 It was split off the existing railroad right-of-way which explains the odd shape of the 1.55 acre lot.