Putnam Railroad Station - Putnam CT - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Putnam Railroad Station is 1 1/2 story brick building completed in 1907. The former passenger station is located just west of the tracks of the Providence and Worcester Railroad in Putnam's downtown business district. The center part of the building has a gable roof with 2 gable dormers. At each end of the station is a hipped roof.

The overall appearance is Mediterranean created by red Spanish terra cotta tiles on the roofs. The use of Flemish-bond brickwork with burnt headers. leaded diamond pane casements for the dormer windiws and cream-colored terra cotta coping and dormer gagles seems to reflect a Tudor or Elizabethan influence.

The station has local historical significance because it recalls the importance of rail transportation in making Putnam into a small city and because for five decades the building serverd the commnunity as a major gateway to the larger world. Putnam was one of the first places in Connecticut where textile manufacturing took hold, but for years it was a series of discontigous mill villages rather than a single settlement with its own character.

The coming of the Norwich and Worcester Railroad in 1840 encourage the development of the area. In the 1870's the Boston to New York "Air Line" made Putnam into a rail junction. The station was the third depot built and erected in 1905-1907 as a civic improvement project.

In 1918, as part of the government take-over of the railroads during WWI, a new company, the Railway Express Agency, was organized, with its stock owned by three large express companies" Adams Express, American Express and Wells Fargo. In 1929, the REA were bought out by a consortium of the nation's major railroads.

The last day of regular passenger service was April 30, 1971.

Source: (visit link)

Street address: 35 and 45-47 Main St. Putnam, CT County / Borough / Parish: Windham Year listed: 2007 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event Periods of significance: 1950-1974, 1925-1949, 1900-1924 Historic function: Transportation Current function: Commerce/Trade, Vacant/Not In Use Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.