Name/Title
Machias Railroad Station | Machias, MaineDescription
From Sunrise County Architecture (2nd revised and enlarged edition) 1996, p.61:
MACHIAS RAILROAD STATION
The Machias Railroad Station, located on Lower Main Street, Route One, is the only Washington County station standing in its original location on the Sunrise Route. It was completed in 1898, the same year the rail line was laid through town. Reconstruction efforts will include the restoration of the back porch and covering. The building will serve as a railroad museum, tourist information center, community meeting place and office of the Machias Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. A grand opening is planned in summer 1998. KFM, MBACC
From Machias Railroad Station National Register Nomination Form:
Constructed in 1898 by Jonesboro contractor Howard Varney, the Machias Railroad Station is a modest wooden frame building which stands on its original trackside location along Route 1. It is one of only five known extant station buildings erected by the Washington County Railroad along its 100 plus mile route from Calais to Washington Junction in Ellsworth. The building is eligible for nomination to the Register under criterion A for its association with this significant rail line, and under criterion C for its representation of the distinctive type of station building employed by the railroad.
Although it was not the first railroad developed in Maine's expansive easternmost region, the Washington County Railroad was certainly the most ambitious. Incorporated on July 26, 1894, and chartered by the State Legislature the following year, the company signed its first building contract and commenced construction late in 1895. A variety of problems delayed any substantial progress on the line until 1897 when new financing was arranged. From that point until the railroad officially opened in December of 1898, work was carried out at a feverish pace. The first through train was operated on January 2, 1899.
Despite the high expectations of profitability by the railroad's progenitors and owners, it failed to generate sufficient income to pay its heavy debts. As a result, in 1903 the line was auctioned, subsequently reorganized as the Washington County Railway Company, and leased to the Maine CentralRailroadin1904. In1911therailroadwasfullyabsorbedintothe Maine Central system. Passenger service was discontinued in late 1957 and the line was abandoned in 1985.
The station in Machias is one of twenty-four station buildings which were erected by the Washington County Railroad in 1898. With at most a handful of exceptions, including the existing two-story brick building in Calais that also served as company headquarters, the stations were patterned on a single design. Covered by gable roofs whose expansive eaves were supported by pronounced bracing, the stations were sheathed in weatherboards and featured wainscotting around four sides as well as projecting ticket booths. They were further distinguished by the double slope of the roof on the trackside, the lower slope of which was shallower and carried out over the platform where it was supported by free-standing posts or elongated braces. Subsequent alterations to the Machias example, including an addition in 1910 and conversion to a freight depot in 1957, have resulted in the loss of some of this detail. Chief among these is the removal of the platform shelter. However, the station continues to retain a high degree of its historic character.
An analysis of published sources suggests, as noted above, that only five Washington County Railroad stations survive. They are located in Addison, Calais, Cherryfleld, Colvunbia Falls, and Machias. Only two of these buildings survive on their original sites, however. The former Columbia station is believed to have been moved to Addison and converted to a private residence; the Cherryfleld station was moved some distance to a site near the
village center (and is located in a National Register historic district); and the Columbia Falls station has also been moved. The future of the Calais building is unknown, whereas the present owner of the Machias station will shortly be transferring the property to the local historical society which plans to rehabilitate it on site.