Lee Depot (Sullivan Station Restaraunt) - Lee, MA, USA
Posted by: 
GAGELSIE
N 42° 18.512 W 073° 15.139
18T E 644039 N 4685511
The Lee Depot operated as a RR Station until 1971.
Waymark Code: WM8Q29
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 04/30/2010
Views: 4
Sullivan Station was originally built as a railroad passenger depot in 1893 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Prior to this construction, passengers boarded and disembarked from a tiny wooden building across the tracks.The inconvenience of having to walk across the tracks to get to the village was one of the reasons for seeking a new structure.
Lee merchant and contractor Thomas Heaphy convinced Wellington Smith, a prominent resident and paper mill owner, to represent the town in meetings with railroad officials in Boston. When the new depot was approved, the construction contract was awarded to Heaphy, and the depot became a product of labor of the local citizens.
The new passenger depot opened on Saturday, November 4, 1893, and the first ticket was proudly purchased by Thomas Heaphy himself. It remained the Lee Depot until 1971. The structure, then in the possession of Penn Central Railroad, was used as a line office.
The real estate was purchased from Penn Central in 1975 by the present owner. The building was used to operate two businesses, Barritt Oil Co. and Iron Horse Realty until 1980, when the family decided to take on the task of painstaking restoration. Enthusiastically, the depot was transformed into a restaurant.
On September 11, 1981, the doors of Sullivan Station Restaurant opened. It has continued to be owned and operated by Marilyn Kelly.
From
Marilyn Kelly
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