Wyoming Hill station

Wyoming Hill
An inbound train at Wyoming Hill station in 2010
General information
Location40 West Wyoming Avenue
Melrose, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°27′07″N 71°04′10″W / 42.4519°N 71.0694°W / 42.4519; -71.0694
Owned byCity of Melrose
Line(s)Western Route
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport MBTA bus: 131, 132, 137
Construction
Parking28 spaces ($3.00 fee)
Bicycle facilitiesyes
AccessibleNo
Other information
Fare zone1
History
Openedc. 1845
Previous namesBoardman's Crossing (c. 1845–1850s)
Wyoming (1850s–c. 1978)
Passengers
2018138 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Oak Grove
toward North Station
 Haverhill Line Melrose/Cedar Park
toward Haverhill
Location
Map

Wyoming Hill station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station on the Haverhill Line, located in Wyoming Square near downtown Melrose, Massachusetts. The station has two low-level side platforms and is not accessible. Wyoming Hill, in addition to the two other commuter rail stops in Melrose, was originally intended to be an extension of the Orange Line further north to Reading, Massachusetts.

History

Early-20th-century postcard of the station

The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) opened its line from Wilmington Junction to Boston on July 1, 1845. Boardman's Crossing station opened on Wyoming Avenue in North Malden by 1850.[2] It was named for Joseph Boardman, who lived nearby; the street was named for the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.[3] North Malden split from Malden in 1850, becoming Melrose, due to development around the rail line.[4] A station building was erected in late 1851, at which time the station was renamed Wyoming[5] By the 1870s, the station building was located on the west side of the tracks just south of Wyoming Avenue.[6]

The B&M began construction of a new station building about 100 feet (30 m) to the south in July 1900.[7][8] The new station was built of light buff-colored brick, with red Longmeadow sandstone as trim and a slate roof. It was 55 feet (17 m) long and 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, with a 28-foot (8.5 m)-square waiting room finished in brick and quartered oak. A 250-foot (76 m)-long awning was built on the track side of the station, with a 350-foot (110 m) long awning on the opposite platform. The architect was Henry B. Fletcher.[8] The new station opened on February 24, 1901, at a final cost of $25,000 (equivalent to $730,000 in 2023).[9]

The station building was partially converted to a warehouse by 1962, and was demolished by 1977.[10][11] The MBTA, formed in 1964 to subsidize suburban commuter rail service, began funding Reading Line service on January 18, 1965.[12][2] Around 1978, the MBTA modified the names of several stations for clarity, with Wyoming station becoming Wyoming Hill.[13]

Rail service on the inner Haverhill Line was suspended from September 9 to November 5, 2023, to accommodate signal work. Substitute bus service was operated between Reading and Oak Grove, serving all intermediate stops.[14]

References

  1. ^ Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  2. ^ a b Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. pp. 15, 67–68. ISBN 9780685412947.
  3. ^ "Ask The Globe". The Boston Globe Magazine. June 3, 1984. p. 63 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Goss, Elbridge Henry (1902). The history of Melrose, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts. City of Melrose. pp. 20-21 – via Internet Archive.
  5. ^ "Miscellaneous Items". New England Farmer. December 6, 1851. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Melrose". Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. George H. Walker & Company. 1874. p. 62.
  7. ^ "Wyoming Station Muddle". Boston Globe. July 21, 1900. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ a b "New Railroad Station for Wyoming". Boston Globe. August 18, 1900. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "New Station at Wyoming". Boston Globe. February 24, 1901. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Glynn, Robert E. (October 6, 1962). "Passengers Will Find Gift Shops, Laundries Replacing Rail Depots". Boston Globe. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Henry, Alan P. (August 10, 1977). "There's no depot like an old depot". Boston Globe. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  13. ^ T system map: 1978-1979, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, 1978 – via Wikimedia Commons
  14. ^ "Service Disruption September 9 to November 5 on Haverhill Commuter Rail Line" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 10, 2023.

Media related to Wyoming Hill station at Wikimedia Commons