One of the last remaining brick stations in New Brunswick and
one of only two railway stations left on the Fredericton Branch Line, this station came close to destruction at the hands of the elements and vandals. Today, however, this iconic 1923 heritage property has been fully restored and repurposed by NB Liquor and others to become an events centre and liquor store.
By 1923 the railway was operated by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the city was in need of a new railway station to serve the ever increasing freight and passenger traffic engendered by continuous growth in the area. While the identity of the building's designer is unknown, it was the Rhodes & Curry Company of Amherst, Nova Scotia which was contracted to build it. Rhodes & Curry was, at the time, one of the largest and best known general contractors in Atlantic Canada, with a great many notable buildings in their portfolio.
Rail service was discontinued on the CPR's Fredericton Subdivision on April 28, 1962, but resumed, this time by Via Rail, in 1981, with dayliner service from Fredericton to Halifax. This service lasted only until 1985. In the fall of 1993, CP Rail abandoned all lines in the Saint John River valley, including the CP Fredericton Subdivision, which meant abandonment of this station and all other railway property associated with it. By then owned by the J.D. Irving Company, the station was left to deteriorate until a group of concerned professionals and citizens, named the Fredericton Friends of the Railway Inc., after years of lobbying, found an interested party in Alcool NB Liquor, who, with J.D. Irving, restored and renovated the building in 2010.
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York Street Train Station
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
This two-storey tapestry brick structure with a projecting entrance canopy was constructed by the Rhodes-Curry Company of Amherst, Nova Scotia, in 1923 for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). This building, which fronts onto the east side of York Street, replaced the original wooden railway station completed in 1869.
HERITAGE VALUE
The York Street Railway Station is designated a Local Historic Place for its association with the development of the railway industry in the City of Fredericton. The establishment of a railway station on York Street not only ushered in a new era of passenger traffic in Fredericton but it would eventually become the hub of an industrial enclave at the rear of town. Under the auspices of the Fredericton Railway Company, the city welcomed a connection to the Western Extension of the European and North American Railway and the march of progress that it represented. This new railway link promised to open communication between this province and the “outer world,” and provided year-round access to the main shipping port in Saint John.
Initially it was proposed that the station should be located near the Court House on lower Queen Street, but Mayor William Needham was instrumental in changing the site to the York Street extension near the Alms House and Isolation Hospital. The original railway station, a two-storey wooden structure, was completed in the fall of 1869.
Thirty years later, the Hartt Boot & Shoe Company began manufacturing footwear in its newly completed factory opposite the CPR train station. By the 1910’s, the station was the centre of a flourishing industrial park, with four manufacturing plants producing for both the national and international markets. The railway station was integral to the success of these industrial interests.
In 1923, officials with the CPR hired the Rhodes-Curry Company of Amherst, Nova Scotia, to erect a new brick railway station, near the site of the original wooden structure. The removal of the old structure provided a courtyard in front of the new station to accommodate the arrival and departure of passengers, taxis, coaches and other vehicles.
The design of the railway station, incorporating tapestry brick patterning, was rarely featured in Fredericton buildings. The Fredericton station marked a departure in building material, as most New Brunswick CPR railway stations had been wooden buildings. Although some design elements associated with this building might have been new to Fredericton, the appearance of the station was fairly harmonious with other stations along the CPR. The new station evoked, in particular, the station at Sherbrooke, Québec, as well as the divisional station at Woodstock, New Brunswick.
Before the Second World War, the York Street train station served both the CPR and the Canadian National Railway and became known as Union Station. The only major structural change to the station came in 1945 when the canopy at the east end of the building was removed and a freight shed was added to handle both excess baggage and express shipping.
The York Street train station had reduced its operations to freight service after passenger traffic ceased in the 1960’s. The CPR withdrew its remaining operations from the building in 1990.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
- its location near the site of the original station from 1869;
- brick construction, featuring decorative tapestry brick exterior, erected atop a sandstone foundation;
- two-storey central section with medium-hipped roof;
- variety of roof lines with returned eaves;
- projecting entrance canopy with a gable roof, supported by brick columns, at east end of structure;
- variety of window openings, including large rectangular windows and Roman arched windows;
- expansive brick and stone addition at east end of structure.
From Historic Places Canada
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