Whitman
An inbound train at Whitman station in 2013
General information
Location383 South Avenue (Route 27)
Whitman, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°04′57″N 70°55′24″W / 42.0826°N 70.9234°W / 42.0826; -70.9234
Line(s)Plymouth Branch
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Construction
Parking208 spaces ($4.00 fee)
Bicycle facilities8 spaces
AccessibleYes
Other information
Fare zone5
History
Openedc. 1845
September 29, 1997
ClosedJune 30, 1959
Rebuilt1881
Previous namesSouth Abington (until 1886)
Passengers
2018362 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Abington
toward South Station
 Kingston Line Hanson
toward Kingston
Former services
Preceding station New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Following station
Abington
toward Boston
 Boston–​Plymouth North Hanson
toward Plymouth

Whitman station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Whitman, Massachusetts. It serves the Plymouth/Kingston Line. It is located off South Avenue (MA 27). Parking is available on the south side of South Avenue on both sides of the tracks. The station opened along with the rest of the Old Colony Lines on September 26, 1997.

History

Early-20th-century postcard of Whitman station

The Old Colony Railroad opened through Abington in November 1845. South Abington station opened with the line or shortly thereafter.[2] The Old Colony opened its Bridgewater Branch from South Abington to Bridgewater in 1847.[3]: 381  Mergers resulted in changes to the railroad's name in 1854 and 1863; it became simply "Old Colony Railroad" again in 1872.[3]: 376 

In 1881–82, the Old Colony built a brick passenger station and an engine house at South Abington. A freight yard and buildings were constructed, and a new wye with the Bridgewater Branch was added south of the station.[2][4] The station was renamed Whitman on May 10, 1886, following the town's name change a week earlier.[5][6] The Old Colony was acquired by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad in 1893.[3]: 376 

Passenger service on the Bridgewater Branch ended in 1925.[3]: 377  The portion from Whitman to East Bridgewater was abandoned in 1937.[3]: 381  The four-stall engine house was destroyed by the 1938 New England hurricane.[7] All Old Colony Division passenger service ended on June 30, 1959, though freight service continued to use the line.[3]: 379  The former station building was destroyed by fire on November 23, 1972.[8]

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) purchased many of the former New Haven Railroad lines, including the Old Colony mainline (Plymouth Secondary) between Braintree and Plymouth, from Penn Central in 1973.[9] By 1985, the MBTA also owned the former platform area at Whitman.[10] The engine house foundations were uncovered in 1990 during an archeological survey prior to the restoration of service on the Old Colony Lines.[7] The site was turned into a park at a cost of $100,000.[11] The new station opened along with the rest of the Old Colony Lines on September 26, 1997.[9] Whitman Roundhouse Park opened in October 1999.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  2. 1 2 Eighteenth Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1881. p. 6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Karr, Ronald Dale (2017). The Rail Lines of Southern New England (2 ed.). Branch Line Press. ISBN 9780942147124.
  4. ↑ Nineteenth Annual Report of the Old Colony Railroad Co. to the Stockholders. Old Colony Railroad Company. November 1882. p. 6.
  5. ↑ "South Abington Named Whitman". The Boston Globe. May 4, 1886. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Jacobs, Warren (October 1928). "Dates of Some of the Principal Events in the History of 100 Years of the Railroad in New England. 1826-1926". Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin. Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. 17 (17): 15–28. JSTOR 43504499.
  7. 1 2 3 Kierstead, Matthew (1999). "Whitman, MA, Roundhouse Archeological Park Opens" (PDF). Newsletter. Vol. 19, no. 2. Society for Industrial Archeology · New England Chapters. pp. 14, 15.
  8. ↑ Hickey, David (2003). Images of America: Whitman. Arcadia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 9781439628751.
  9. 1 2 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  10. ↑ Humphrey, Thomas J. (1985). Short-range commuter-rail alternatives on the South Shore. Central Transportation Planning Staff. p. 78.
  11. ↑ "Scout hopes to reclaim Whitman railroad history". Wicked Local Whitman. April 14, 2014. Archived from the original on October 18, 2023.

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