This is a wonderful attraction to visit, especially the museum found within the walls of the station. If you can just close your eyes and think hard enough, you can hear the once gone trains whistling into this stop. The museum has interactive videos. examples of Revolutionary War uniforms, armaments and weapons and other curiosities. Rehabilitation of the Valley Forge Train Station was completed in March of 2009. The building has been adapted and rehabilitated to provide a National Park Service reception and staging facility for visitors to Washington's Headquarters and related structures in Valley Forge National Historical Park. John Milner Architects served as preservation architects for the project, as consultants to HDR, Inc.
From Wikipedia: "Near Washington's Headquarters is the Valley Forge Train Station, now owned by the park. The station was completed in 1911 by the Reading Railroad and was the point of entry to the park for travelers who came by rail through the 1950s from Philadelphia, 23.7 miles (38.1 km) distant. The station was restored in 2009 and is now being used as a museum and information center that offers visitors a better understanding of Washington's Headquarters and the village of Valley Forge. Constructed of the same type stone as Washington's Headquarters, the building was erected on a large man-made embankment overlooking the headquarters site.
Near the welcome center is another station at Port Kennedy, on the same line. Also owned by the park, the station, both platforms and the former parking area are in a state of disrepair. Should the long-planned Schuylkill Valley Metro project come to fruition, this station could again connect the park to center city Philadelphia, Pottstown, and Reading with public transportation."
The NPS really hypes up this site. "Visitors enter the site on a hilltop with a dramatic view of the Schuylkill River and walk down into the historic landscape surrounding Headquarters. The completely restored 1913 Reading Railroad Station is the place where rangers will meet visitors for guided tours of Headquarters, which take place on the half hour. An exhibit on the archeology of the Valley Forge itself, which was burned during a British raid in 1777, is on display in the adjacent stable."
The Train Station is located just off of the River Road trail, on the high ground overlooking the Schuylkill Valley, and within easy walking distance of Washington's Headquarters, of which it overlooks and offers a spectacular view. I took Inner Line Drive going west and made a left on Valley Forge Road and traveled another 138 feet on Valley Forge Road, and made a quick right onto a NPS road which led to a parking lot located at N 40° 6.144 W 75° 27.451. The Delaware monument is right at the parking lot and 617 feet from Valley Forge Road. From there you can visit the train station next, work your way down to Washington's Headquarters, then to the Washington Statue. Keeping on the trail you will see some huts, a spring house, and a number of interpretives. I visited this house on Saturday, April 6, 2013 @ 2:30ish P.M., EDT, & @ an altitude of 247 feet ASL.
The Valley Forge Railroad Station meets Criterion A as part of Village of Valley Forge’s long & important heritage of industrial development, & Criterion C as excellent example of early 20th century railroad station. PA SHPO concurrence 9/16/2004 to 2000 CLI that resource contributes to the significance of Valley Forge NHP The structure is inventoried as structure no. 137.
From the Nomination Form:
The Village of Valley Forge is significant as an industrial village district with a long history of industrial and transportation developments spanning the majority of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Valley Forge Railroad Station is an excellent example of an early 20th century railroad station of quality design and construction. It also represents the significance of railroading in the Valley Forge area.
Short Physical Description:
1-story, 63'6" x 25' structure with basement and attic. Gable roof with boxed cornice and chimney; columned porch on all sides, 82' x 38'6"; bay at north elevation,15'x4'.
Long Physical Description:
N/A
My Sources
1.
NRHP Nomination Form
2.
Wikipedia
3.
Lincoln Bittner
4.
Philly.Com
5.
National Park Service
6.
John Milner Architects, Inc.