[This feature was published in the April 2005 issue of the Bull Sheet]
Union Stations Across the U.S.
By Beryl Frank
Bellows Falls, Vermont
The Bellows Falls Union Station will take you back to the beginning of the days when train travel was the only way to go. No planes. No cars. As early as the 1850's, depots were being built and in use on the East Coast. As far as the tracks traveled west, train stations were being built there as well.
The Bellows Falls Union Station when originally built had a canopy on all four sides. This covered entrance to the trains made comfort for the passengers who were traveling.
Some of the original trains that came in and out of the Bellows Falls station traveled to Boston. The Rutland and Burlington lines used the station. So did the trains that went north, and the ones that went south to New York. This very busy union station was built as a joint venture between the Rutland Railroad and the Boston and Maine Railroad.
A newspaper article from 1902 bore a headline which said: "Wants New Station. Bellows Falls is Up in Arms. The Present Structure is an Eyesore. Unsafe. Unsanitary and Unfit for the Traffic..."
Bellows Falls was a thriving industrial center 114 miles from Boston on the Connecticut River. This was a natural community for industrial operations and had a population of about 6,000. Many of these were drawn to the village because of excellent job opportunities. It is no wonder that the town was up in arms about the condition of the railroad station.
But even though Bellows Falls was angry, nothing was done about it. It took a fire in 1925 to destroy the original station. It was said that the damage totaled $78,000. Only after the flames died down was the station rebuilt. By the end of 1925, the Boston and Maine Railroad Station was busy again for the town.
Moving along in history, on August 16, 1982, the Bellows Falls Passenger Station was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The visitor there today sees what was there since 1852 in the Union Station of Bellows Falls, Vermont.
Bellows Falls Union Station in its early days. [photo by R. W. Nimke]
Another view from early 1900's. Note the old ball-type signal.
Many thanks to Bob Adams and especially to Christine Burchstead of the Rockingham Free Public Library, both of whom helped with facts, figures and photographs.
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