Hyde Park | |||||||||||
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 Station building in 2007 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | 34 River Road,Hyde Park,Dutchess County,New York 12538 | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 2 side | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 4 | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Closed | 1958 | ||||||||||
| Former services | |||||||||||
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Hyde Park Railroad Station | |||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°47′14″N73°56′47″W / 41.78722°N 73.94639°W /41.78722; -73.94639 | ||||||||||
| Built | 1914[1][2] | ||||||||||
| Architect | Warren and Wetmore | ||||||||||
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival | ||||||||||
| NRHP reference No. | 81000403 | ||||||||||
| Added to NRHP | 1981 | ||||||||||
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Hyde Park is a formerNew York Central Railroadstation located where Crum Elbow Creek flows into theHudson River inHyde Park,New York. A one-story wooden station was first established by the Central at the spot in 1851 by the Hudson River Railroad, connectingNew York City andAlbany. It was replaced by the existing building, built in a combination of theMission andSpanish Revivalstyles byWarren and Wetmore, the railroad's preferred architects who had also designedGrand Central Terminal and the nearbyPoughkeepsie station, in 1914.[1]
The station saw heavy use throughout the early years of its existence, due to the proximity of estates such as theVanderbilt Mansion and, later,PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt's frequent retreats tohis home in Hyde Park. Roosevelt is known to have passed through the station twice during his presidency: in 1939 when he greetedKing George VI andQueen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom on their 1939 visit, and posthumously in 1945, when his body was unloaded there in preparation for burial.[3] However, even by Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term, it was only a local stop on local New York City–Albany trains, with the named trains bypassing the station.[4]
When passenger rail transport in the U.S. declined as air and auto established themselves as alternatives in mid-century, the station began to see less traffic. Regular train service was suspended in 1953, after which it may have become aflag stop. It was listed by the Central as a station until 1958, after which the outer two of the line's four tracks were torn up and the tunnel to the southbound platforms closed off. Eventually the Central sold the station building to the Town of Hyde Park, one of many assets it divested itself of as it tried to stay afloat.[1]
Local youths began fixing the station up for use as ateen center, but they failed to finish the project. By 1975 the abandoned building had fallen into disrepair and become heavilyvandalized. It was one day away fromdemolition when the Hudson Valley Railroad Society (HVRS) took possession,renting the station from the town for a dollar per year for fifteen years. The HVRS completed the extensive interior and exterior renovations needed, including completely restoring the tiled roof, and began converting it into a regional rail museum, raising operating funds with an annual model train show.[1]
The tracks, fenced off for safety reasons, remain in use byCSX andAmtrak'sEmpire Service. The station could possibly become part of an active passenger station again if the idea of extendingMetro-North'sHudson Linecommuter rail service northward from its current terminus at Poughkeepsie is ever realized.
In April 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt's funeral train stopped at the siding and his casket was transferred to a horse-drawn caisson to carry him to his home for interment.
