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Difference between revisions of "Annapolis Royal Station"

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File:Frogmore.jpg|The [[Annapolis Royal Station]], circa 1900.
 
File:27-102a DAR track at Annapolis Royal, NS 750628.jpg|Looking east to the [[St. George Street Overpass]] near the location of the Frogmore Station, June 28, 1975.   
 
File:27-102a DAR track at Annapolis Royal, NS 750628.jpg|Looking east to the [[St. George Street Overpass]] near the location of the Frogmore Station, June 28, 1975.   
 
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Revision as of 20:42, 7 May 2020

Annapolis Royal has had four different train stations with distinctly different styles, reflecting the rise and fall of different railway eras in the town. The first and second were located on Church Street at the foot of St. James Street in the centre of town near the wharf, where the Windsor and Annapolis Railway terminated. A third known as the "Frogmore" station dated from 1891, and was located just west of St. George Street, where the railway cut is still evident. It burned in 1913 and was replaced in 1914 by the final, and still standing station, an 'Arts and Crafts" style brick building at the end of Victoria Street.

First Station 1869 to c. 1880

The first station at Annapolis Royal was a slightly larger version of the typical first generation Windsor & Annapolis Railway stations and measured 50 x 20 feet. It was built in the centre of town near the present day Farmer's Market parking lot on Church Street at the foot of St. James Street. As a terminal station near the steamship docks, it boasted a two large platforms (12 x 250 feet and 12 x 212 feet) for the interchange of freight.[1] It was a simple gable roofed building with board and batten walls, similar to the first Wolfville Station, with no awning but enlivened by some Victorian trim with ornamental barge board details and finials.

Second Station c. 1880 to c. 1891

A much larger, two and a half story station with an attached freight shed was built in Annapolis Royal by the W&A to replace the original station in the centre of town at Church Street and St. James Street, providing additional offices, larger waiting rooms and a restaurant for W&A passengers in Annapolis Royal's the golden railway age. However after the line to Digby was completed in 1891, the mainline was rerouted around the town, leaving the large stranded on what became a spur to the railway wharf. The old station was converted to a freight shed.[2] In Janury 1914, one wing of the station was detached and moved to new location of the DAR mainline to serve as the Annapolis Royal Freight Shed beside the town's fourth station.[3] During World War I, the old station building was leased by the DAR to B.B. Hardwick for an apple evaporator and jam factory, employing 13 people.[4] However, during the celebrations marking the end of the war on November 11, 1918, someone set fire the the old station building and it was destroyed by fire.[5]

Third "Frogmore" Station c. 1891 to c. 1913

The third station, nicknamed the "Frogmore Station" was built on the south side of town, on the new mainline created when the "missing gap" between Annapolis Royal and Digby was finally completed. Annapolis ceased to be a terminus and instead became a small station stop, served by a small single-story station serving mainly as the passenger stop, while the larger, old station on Church Street continued to handle freight for a few years.[6] The Frogmore station burned in 1913.

External Links

Fourth Station 1914 to present

The fourth and final station was a finely decorated brick passenger station. It was also on the mainline, but located just east of Prince Albert Road at the end of Victoria Street which was extended to connect to the new station site. Reflecting the growing tourism trade to Annapolis Royal, it was a finely decorated arts and craft style station with elaborate woodwork and decorative windows, designed by the CPR’s chief railway architect in Montreal. The new station opened on March 9, 1914.[7] Often photographed from the convenient viewpoint of the St. George Street overpass to the west, it survived the end of rail service to be restored by its current owner. A separate freight shed, just to east, handled freight.

References and Footnotes

  1. ↑ Barry Moody, A History of Annapolis Royal: A Town with a Memory, Nimbus (2014), page 139.
  2. ↑ Information and the only known photograph of this station are found in Ralph Beaumount, Heckman's Canadian Pacific: A Photographic Journey, p. 291
  3. ↑ Annapolis Royal Spectator, June 19, 1913 and January 15, 1914 cited in the Annapolis Royal Heritage Facebook Post March 31, 2020: https://www.facebook.com/AnnapolisHeritageSociety/photos/a.182560275111155/3135746689792484/?type=3&theater
  4. ↑ Barry Moody, A History of Annapolis Royal: A Town with a Memory, Nimbus (2014), page 228.
  5. ↑ Barry Moody, A History of Annapolis Royal: A Town with a Memory, Nimbus (2014), page 223.
  6. ↑ Ralph Beaumount, Heckman's Canadian Pacific: A Photographic Journey, p. 291
  7. ↑ [http://www.mrsnicholson.com/trainstation/trainstation-history.html "Train Station History", Mrs. Nicholson's

External Links

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