Petrolia - Grand Trunk Railway Station
Posted by: 
Hard Oiler
N 42° 52.920 W 082° 08.790
17T E 406371 N 4748348
An impressive example of early railway architecture built, in 1903, at the Petrolia terminus of the 5 mile branch line from Wyoming junction.
Waymark Code: WMHH4
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 07/16/2006
Views: 52
For a town with a population of only about 3700 at the time the GTR station was built, it is indeed an impressive structure. The oil boom was coming to an end, Imperial Oil which represented a third of the town’s economy had moved its refinery and head office to Sarnia. Perhaps it was in anticipation of better years ahead and to compensate for the clapboard structures that had served as stations from when the branch line had been built in 1866.
Built in the Queen Anne style it represents a fine example of early railway architecture. The two turrets housed the waiting rooms- gentlemen to the east and ladies to the west.
The building operated as a station until railway service was discontinued in 1930. Sold to the town by CNR for $1 it opened as a public library in 1937 and has continued to operate as the town’s public library ever since looking virtually identical to the way it did in 1903.
