Alberton Railway Station - Alberton, PEI
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T0SHEA
N 46° 48.783 W 064° 04.065
20T E 418541 N 5184942
One of only two railway depots on PEI built of stones, rocks and boulders, the Alberton Depot still serves the town, though no longer as a railway station.
Waymark Code: WMPNYX
Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada
Date Posted: 09/28/2015
Views: 3
This is the second depot to be built in the town of Alberton, the original wood frame station, similar to Georgetown's, having been used from 1875 to 1905. Built in 1904-05, the depot is the handiwork of architect Charles B. Chappell (1857-1931), who also designed many notable buildings in the Maritimes, including Charlottetown City Hall in the city of his birth. The station served as a railway depot until its closing in 1971 then, in 1973, the station was transformed into a tourist information centre and a craft shop, which it remains today.
Open only during the summer tourist season it greets tourists from about the beginning of June to the end of September. Unfortunately, the centre has only a Facebook page, which contains very little useful information.
The depot was built by the Prince Edward Island Railway (PEIR), which was funded by the PEI government and founded in 1871. Construction costs nearly bankrupted the province, which was forced to join Canadian Confederation in order to obtain funds with which to continue construction. The railway ran nearly from end to end of the Island, from Tignish in the west to Elmira in the east, with several spur lines serving major trading areas.
In September 1918 the PEIR was assimilated into the nationally owned Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR), which, in December of 1918, became Canadian National Railways (CNR). Much of the PEIR rail was narrow gauge at the time that the CNR took over, with the conversion to standard gauge being completed by September of 1930.
Improvements in the highways system and in the trucking industry lead to a slow decline in revenue for the railway on the Island, eventually leading to the announcement in July, 1989 that abandonment of the railway on Prince Edward Island was imminent. On December 31, 1989, the ferry John Hamilton Gray carried the last operational rail cars and locomotives off Prince Edward Island and the railway became extinct.
Alberton Railway Station
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Alberton Railway Station building is a fine example of an Edwardian railway station in PEI. It is located in the Town of Alberton near the former railway tracks which is now part of the Confederation Trail. The station has been incorporated as a tourist information centre into a green space known as Stone Station Park. It has adjacent picnic areas and shade trees. The registration includes the footprint of the building.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Alberton Railway Station is significant as one of only 2 "boulder stations" constructed in PEI. The other is at Kensington, PEI. It was built of granite stone in 1904-1905 according to the design of the architect, Charles B. Chappell (1857-1931). He was born in Charlottetown and became noted for his work in other areas of the Maritimes. In PEI, he designed the Charlottetown City Hall (1887) and former Prince of Wales College Building (1898) which has since been destroyed. The Alberton Station served a vital economic role in Alberton until it closed in 1971.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The following elements embody the heritage value of the station:
- the rare granite stone construction
- the hipped roof with 2 intact chimneys
- the original style, size, and placement of the doors and windows
From Historic Places Canada