Ampere (NJT station)

Ampere
A view of the Ampere station before its closing, by the Historic American Engineering Record
Location	Ampere Plaza and Whitney Place, East Orange, New Jersey
Owned by	New Jersey Transit
Line(s)	Montclair-Boonton Line
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
History
Opened	1908
Closed	April 7, 1991
Electrified	September 3, 1930
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station Watsessing Avenue toward Hackettstown Montclair-Boonton Line Roseville Avenue toward Hoboken or New York Penn Station Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Watsessing Avenue toward Montclair Montclair Branch Roseville Avenue toward Hoboken
Ampere Station
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
New Jersey Register of Historic Places
The 1907 train station depot, slowly falling apart.
Location	Ampere Plaza and Whitney Place, East Orange, New Jersey
Coordinates	40°45′55″N 74°11′40″W / 40.76528°N 74.19444°W / 40.76528; -74.19444Coordinates: 40°45′55″N 74°11′40″W / 40.76528°N 74.19444°W / 40.76528; -74.19444
Area	1.6 acres (0.65 ha)
Built	1908
Architect	Frank J. Nies
Architectural style	Renaissance
MPS	Operating Passenger Railroad Stations TR
NRHP Reference #	84002628
NJRHP #	1073
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 22, 1984
Designated NJRHP	March 17, 1984
Removed from NRHP	October 30, 1990

Ampere, formerly known as The Crescent, is a closed station on New Jersey Transit's Montclair Branch in the city of East Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The station depot was built originally in 1890 to service to new Crocker Wheeler plant in the district. The station was named in honor of André-Marie Ampère, a pioneer in electrodynamics and reconstructed as a new Renaissance Revival station in 1907 and 1908. The station was the second station on the branch west of Newark Broad Street Station until 1984, when Roseville Avenue station was closed. That year, the station, along with 42 others, was entered into the National Register of Historic Places on June 22. After continuous disrepair and deterioration, New Jersey Transit slowly demolished the old station, including the westbound shelter built in 1922 in 1986 and the station depot itself in 1995. The station was closed on April 7, 1991 by New Jersey Transit until the station could see better ridership. The station never reopened along with Grove Street station on the Morris & Essex Lines, also in East Orange.

The Montclair Branch was chartered in 1852 as the Newark and Bloomfield Railroad, running through Bloomfield and nearby West Bloomfield (present-day Montclair). However, tracks were not constructed along the owned right-of-way until 1856; in June that year trains began running between Newark, Bloomfield and West Bloomfield. The railroad had a large deficit to start; the ticket agent at West Bloomfield was also the brakeman for the one-car train. On April 1, 1868, the Morris & Essex Railroad bought out the alignment of the Newark and Bloomfield Railroad. The Morris & Essex began running services on the line, which was renamed the Montclair Branch when West Bloomfield was renamed Montclair shortly after. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad soon gained trackage rights, and by the turn of the 20th century, the railroad had begun constructing track depressions and raises to eliminate grade-level crossings on city streets.