Southampton Station

Southampton Station

History and Significance

History

Newtown Branch

Long after the Reading had completed their electrification project in the early 1930’s the Newtown Branch remained as the only steam operated commuter line in the Philadelphia area. It was one of the last rail lines built in the 19th Century and it had a very rural atmosphere. Another 30 years would pass before the Reading would install catenary on the Newtown Branch to Fox Chase, electrifying all passenger service within the city of Philadelphia.

In the days just prior to the American Civil War, a group of investors had received permission by special act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to incorporate the Philadelphia and Montgomery County Railroad. It was hoped that the line would be built from Philadelphia to Newtown. The financial instability of the times and a depression following the end of the Civil War had delayed the start of construction until 1872. During 1873 the road was renamed the Philadelphia and Newtown Railroad Company. It wasn’t until October of 1876 that the first train had operated from Second Street and Erie Avenue to Fox Chase. Following a foreclosure sale on October 4, 1876 and reorganization on November 28th, the company was named “The Philadelphia, Newtown, and New York Railroad Company”. It would take another two years for the rails to reach Newtown, with service opening February 2, 1878.

In its early years of operation, the Newtown Branch would have the distinction of being one of the few rail lines that could claim operation by both PhiladelphiaReading and the Pennsylvania Railroads. Initially the line was operated by the Pennsylvania, with trains operating via the New York Main Line to the West Philadelphia Station and 32nd and Market Streets. This arrangement was short lived and the PN&NY was soon under lease to the P&R by 1879. Under control of the Philadelphia and Reading, Newtown Branch trains began using the station at Third & Berks Streets for their Philadelphia terminus. The opening of the Reading Terminal and the desire to consolidate his passenger operations led Archibald McLeod to construct the Philadelphia & Newtown Connecting Railroad. Incorporated March 1, 1892, the line was built, opened and merged with the P&R system all within the time period of several months. This allowed Newtown trains to be routed from the PN&NY at Olney, travel over the new branch to Newtown Junction on the Tabor Branch and then onto the Ninth Street Branch to reach downtown.

In the early part of the 20th Century, the P&R was looking for a shortcut for their New York traffic to avoid the route through Jenkintown. Laying out a route cross country, they would connect the Newtown Branch at Cheltenham, with NeshaminyFalls on the New York Branch. Organized May 6, 1903, the New York Short Line Railroad would give Reading a faster route to New York. Construction proceeded through 1904-1905, with the line opening for traffic May 27, 1906. While building the new cutoff, part of the branch was extensively rebuilt and double tracked between Newtown Junction and Cheltenham Junction. The Philadelphia & Newtown Connecting and a section of the Newtown Branch from Olney to Cheltenham became the New York Short Line. Saving 1.9 miles, the 9.38 mile line was operated by trackage rights until it could be formally leased by the P&R on February 1, 1907.

Long after the other lines had been electrified and diesel locomotives had arrived on the scene, steam engines still pulled their trains along the Newtown Branch. It was the last Reading suburban line to use steam, with the last engine being withdrawn from service May 6, 1952. By the late 1950’s, increasing auto traffic was causing the City of Philadelphia to explore alternatives to the highways. Under Mayor Richardson Dilworth, the Passenger Service Improvement Corporation was organized to help commuter rail lines within the city. As part of the program, starting in September 1959, under "Operation Northeast” the PSIC began to subsidize service to Fox Chase.

The resurgence in riders led the PSIC to propose, in 1960, to electrify the Newtown Branch to the city line at Fox Chase. Funding was approved on January 23, 1963 for the project at a price tag of two million dollars. The cost of the project would be recovered by leasing the use of the catenary system to the Reading Co., and using its annual lease fees to retire the city’s construction bonds. At a brief ceremony October 5, 1965 at Crescentville, work finally started as officials from the city and the Reading watched the first 136 catenary structures being erected on the 5.3 mile extension. Almost a year later, after the trackwork was also rebuilt, the catenary system was ready for service in late September 1966. On Sunday September 25th, passengers along the branch were surprised to see the electric in service. To allow for a shakedown period, the Reading had started service four days early, before the official opening later in the week. The inaugural train left Reading Terminal for Fox Chase at 9:10 am on September 29, 1966 with Philadelphia’s Mayor Tate and Reading Company President Betrand aboard to autograph souvenir tickets issued for the occasion. A few days later, on October 3, 1966, the Reading revamped service along the branch. On the average weekday, the number of trains increased substantially to Fox Chase, from 18 to 22, and to Reading Terminal, from 12 to 24. Saturdays it had risen to 15 round trips from a previous 8 and Sundays from 3 to 4 round trips. The completion of the electrification to Fox Chase left only the remaining 15 miles to Newtown in diesel operation.

Southampton Station

The inauguration of the train line between Philadelphia and Newtown in 1878 was a decisive moment in the development of the UpperSouthamptonTownship. Local farmers abandoned traditional crops for dairy farming now that they had quick access to markets in the city. The village of Southampton, previously little more than a crossroads with a store and a post office, developed rapidly. Local residents began to commute to jobs in the city: city dwellers came to the “country” to stay in a nearby hotel (“The White Hotel”) or board with local families. Not surprisingly, the passenger station, constructed in 1892, was a focal point in this community.

The upstairs living quarters were used until ca. 1960 by a retired Reading RR employee. The ground floor continued to be used as a waiting room until service on the line was abandoned in the 1980’s. Since then, the building has suffered from vandalism and lack of maintenance. However, a recent inspection, performed by the township’s Historical Advisory Board, code enforcement officials and representatives of SEPTA found the building to be structurally sound.

Although the freight station and outhouses which once formed part the same complex no longer exist, the Southampton Train Station remains essentially intact, retaining such features such as the ticket window and benches in the waiting room and decorative shingles on the exterior.

It is from this station that local residents embarked on the morning of December 5, 1921, for an anticipated uneventful trip to the city. A collision with an oncoming train north of Bryn Athyn resulted in 30 deaths, largely through fire in the wooden coaches. The disaster touched virtually every family in the community and provided the impetus for a national ban on wooden railway passenger cars.

Chronology

1833December 5thPhiladelphia and Reading Charter signed by Governor Wolfe

1851April 8 Philadelphia, Easton and Water Gap Railroad incorporated

1853 April 18 Title of the P, EWG changed to North Penn Railroad

1872Philadelphia and MontgomeryCountyRailroad, Philadelphia to Newtown. Start of construction

1855Formal opening of the North Penn with a train from Front & Willow Sts in Philadelphia to present day Ambler

1873 The Philadelphia and Montgomery County Railroad was renamed the Philadelphia and Newtown Railroad Company

1876October 4, Foreclosure

1876November 28,thecompany reorganized as The Philadelphia, Newtown, and New York Railroad Company

1876Operations begin from Second Street and Erie Avenue to Fox Chase

1878February 2, Service begins to Newtown

1879P&R leases the North Penn RR and the Philadelphia Newtown and New York

1893Reading Company is formed

1921December 5, the Bryn Athyn Train Wreck

1923December 31, Reading Company merges its holdings, Philadelphia and Reading becomes the Reading Company

1931July 26 Inauguration of electric train service to West Trenton and Doylestown. The Newtown Branch is left out of this improvement.

1966September 29 Electric Service to Fox Chase formally inaugurated

1971 Reading Company Declares bankruptcy

1976Reading Company is absorbed into Conrail

1983January 1,Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority assumes operation of the commuter train network. Service is suspended on the Newtown Branch.

Criterion A Transportation
Criterion C Architecture
Criterion C Community Planning and Development

Significance

The building of the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York railroad spurred the development of BucksCounty.Southampton Station represents a significant reminder of the conversion of rural Bucks and Montgomery counties into suburbs we know today.This important role of the railroad is not readily apparent today as most of the development in Bucks County was post World War II and automobile oriented. This particular railroad branch of the Philadelphia commuter network remained a museum piece of a bygone era up to termination of service in 1983.

In the 1890’s the railroad was viewed in a much different manner. The Philadelphia and Reading engaged the noted architect Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr. to design the several stations in the area. Chandler was a contemporary of Frank Furness who designed many stations for the railroads of the region. Chandler was less innovative than Furness but was very well known for his ecclesiastic work in the gothic style. His over 2-dozen stations for the Reading were more sedate compositions than those of Furness but possessed a dignity and mastery of materials. This high profile architect demonstrates the importance of the line to the P & R management.

Theophilus Parsons Chandler, Jr. was born into, and matured with, the Age of the Railroad. Born in Boston in 1845 and educated in Brookline schools, Chandler continued his studies at HarvardUniversity and the Atelier Vaudremer in Paris. Upon his return to the United States, he worked in various Boston offices until moving to Philadelphia in 1872, where he opened an office at 705 Sansom Street. His move to Philadelphia was prompted by fellow Bostonian Robert Morris Copeland, a landscape architect who was working on the development of the “picturesque” suburb of RidleyPark, Chester County, Pennsylvania.

Chandler’s relocation to Philadelphia strengthened his ties to his mother’s family, the Schlatters, and the DuPonts with whom the Schlatters had strong financial ties. These ties were further strengthened when Chandler married into the DuPont family. Chandler’s maternal grandfather, William Schlatter, was one of the founders of the Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgians) in Philadelphia. No doubt these familial ties, similar to those of his contemporary Frank Furness, led to many of his high-profile commissions. One of Chandler’s most noteworthy works was the design for the Church of the New Jerusalem at 22nd & Chestnut Streets in Philadelphia, which, along with Calvary Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC and the First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh would gain Chandler the reputation of being first and foremost an “ecclesiastical architect”.

However, his body of work for the railroads rivals those for religious, commercial and domestic clients. Beginning with the design for the Ridley Park Station for the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad, Chandler’s known railroad commissions number nearly two dozen, the bulk of which was performed for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad and its predecessor roads (the Pennsylvania Railroad was also a client). In addition to the Ridley Park Station, the list of attributed railroad projects includes: Ferry House, Kaighn’s Point, Camden NJ (probably the original ferry house built for the Kaighn’s Point and Philadelphia Ferry Company in 1880 and incorporated into the P&R in 1888); North Philadelphia Station (Germantown Junction Station), 2900 N. Broad St., PRR; Oak Lane Station (now known as Melrose Park), Bethlehem Branch, P&R (Northern Penna. RR); Fox Chase Station, PRR; Pennsylvania Railroad Station, 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PRR; Perkasie Station and Freight Depot (Bucks Co., PA), Bethlehem Branch, P&R; Sellersville Station (Bucks Co., PA), Bethlehem Branch, P&R; Clementon Station (Camden Co, NJ), P&R (Atlantic City Railroad); Hammonton Freight Station, (Atlantic Co., NJ) P&R (Atlantic City Railroad); Trevose Station (Bucks County, PA) P&R; Makefield Station (Bucks County) P&R; Churchville Station (Bucks Co., PA), Newtown Branch, P&R; Southampton Station (Bucks Co., PA), Newtown Branch, P&R; Sunbury Station & Freight Depot (Northumberland Co., PA), Shamrock Division, SS&L Branch, P&R; Elverson Station (Chester Co., PA) Wilmington Northern Branch, P&R.

In addition to his body of work, Chandler’s contribution to the architectural profession in Philadelphia was significant. He served as president of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and received fellowship status in 1886. He served on the Board of Trustees of the Spring Garden Institute. During the 1890’s, he worked to organize the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Architecture, then part of the TowneScientificSchool. Chandler was also active in the Philadelphia community outside of his profession with memberships in the Union League, The Philadelphia Club, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and the Radnor Hunt Club. His pedigree enabled membership in the Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Sons of the Revolution. He died on August 16, 1928.

Context

The context for Southampton includes the SEPTA Newtown Branch from Fox Chase to the terminal in Newtown, BucksCounty. The Philadelphia and Reading engaged the architect of Southampton Station, Theophilus Parsons Chandler Jr, to design two other stations along the line: Fox Chase, which was demolished in 1964 and Churchville, a twin of Southampton which is still standing. Other stations of this period shared similar details from the roof brackets at Woodmont to the 45 degree rectangular agent’s bay at GeorgeSchool.

Bibliography

Bernhart, Benjamin, (1999} Reading Railroad Station Pictorial, Lines P-Z, Reading, Pa. The Outer Station Project.

Holton, James L., (1989) The Reading Railroad: History of a Coal Age Empire, Volume1. Laurys Station, Pa: Garrigues House Publishing.

Holton, James L., (1989) The Reading Railroad: History of a Coal Age Empire, Volume2. Laurys Station, Pa: Garrigues House Publishing.

Coates, Wes, (1990) Electric Trains to Reading Terminal, Flanders, NJ. Railroad Avenue Enterprises.

Reading Company, (1980) Maintenance of Way Standard Plans of the Reading Company, Bridgeport, Pa. Anthracite Railroads Historical Society

Roberts, Joan C, (2010) Theophilus P. Chandler, Jr. Portrait of an American Architect,

Philadelphia, Pa The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Mansley, Richard, (2006) Oral History, Surveying and Industrial archeology of the Newtown Branch, Newtown, Pa: BucksCounty historical Society

The Bucks County Historical Society says that the town or village of Southampton takes its name from the township of Southampton, which was named after a parliamentary municipal borough and seaport of England, county Hampshire, at the mouth of Itchen, 71 miles southwest of London. At the time the boundary line between Bucks and PhiladelphiaCounties was fixed by the Provincial Council, 1685, the English settlements at this time were called Southampton, although the township had not been organized. In 1703 the court recognized Southampton as a township.

The village of Southampton lies at the junction of Second Street Pike and Street Road. In 1841 there were only three houses: those of Elijah Banes, Edward Bolleau, and a store and dwelling. The store was built in 1793 by Elijah Banes. In the early days this village was called the “Lower Corner,” in contradistinction to the “Upper Corner,” now Johnsville, and later took the name of the shopkeepers who succeeded Banes, i.e. “Hicks’ Corner”, “Fetter’s Corner”, etc.

The village was given the name of Southampton when a post office was established, June 10, 1865, with Casper Fetter as the first postmaster.

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