If you want to see some of Philadelphia’s great Victorian architecture, look no further than some of its historic train stations.
Recently, SEPTA voted for five of those Victorian pieces of Philadelphia history to come significantly closer to survival when it was announced that the historic Victorian Train Stations would be leased out to Philadelphia-area developer Ken Weinstein for a 99-year lease for renovation plans on both the Chestnut Hill West and Chestnut Hill East lines.
Weinstein has a history with leasing train stations. The Richard Allen Lane Station was leased by SEPTA two decades ago to Weinstein’s Company, where a coffee shop and residential apartments now exist. Gravers Station, Upsal, Mount Airy, and Tulpehocken, and Carpenter are all part of the approved stations to be leased to Weinstein this month as part of the vote by SEPTA.
Built between 1883, Gravers Lane Station was constructed in the Late Gothic Revival Style by architect Furness & Evans on Anderson Street in Philadelphia for the Reading Railroad. Gravers Station was added to the National Registry of Historic places in 1977 and acquired by SEPTA in 1983.
Chances are that Frank Furness was also the architect on the Mount Airy Station, located between 119 East Gowen Avenue between Devon and Sprague Streets. The station is just over nine miles from Suburban Station and for years had a used bookstore within it’s walls, famously known as Walk A Crooked Mile Books.
Germantown’s Tulpehocken Station was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1878. The station has a residence above it, and was granted funds towards a 2009 restoration. The station also has an orchard and garden that has been planted as part of the restoration. Upsal Train Station was built in 1887 by the Pennsylvania Railroad and the original station was closed in 1916 as grade crossing elimination. Carpenter Train Station was
Philly Office Retail also has used a similar mode to lease train stations in the Philly area like Fort Washington and Ambler. The approach is not only revitalization some of the best Philadelphia train stations; it’s saving them from ruin.
Michael Thomas Leibrandt is member of the York Road Historical Society and lives and works in Abington Township.
