Susquehanna (Erie Railroad station)

SUSQUEHANNA
The station depot at Susquehanna, as seen in May 2011, from the Pavonia Terminal-bound track, 148 years after construction of the depot.
Coordinates	41°56′41.1″N 75°36′34.9″W / 41.944750°N 75.609694°W / 41.944750; -75.609694Coordinates: 41°56′41.1″N 75°36′34.9″W / 41.944750°N 75.609694°W / 41.944750; -75.609694
Owned by	Erie Railroad (1851–1960) Erie Lackawanna Railroad (1960–1976) Conrail
Line(s)	Main Line (Mahoning Division) Mahoning Division First Sub-Division
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	2
Other information
Station code	3303
History
Opened	1851; 166 years ago (1851)
Closed	January 6, 1970; 47 years ago (January 6, 1970)
Rebuilt	1863; 154 years ago (1863)
Services
Preceding station   Erie Railroad   Following station Gulf Summit toward Pavonia Terminal Main Line Hickory Grove toward Dearborn Station Lanesboro toward Carbondale Jefferson Division Terminus

The Erie Railroad Station in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania was built by the Erie Railway (later reorganized as the Erie Railroad) in 1863. The three-story Gothic Revival structure included a large hotel, called Starrucca House, with rooms for 200 people and a 120 feet (37 m) long dining room. Overall building size is 327 feet (100 m) length by 40 feet (12 m) width.

The railroad converted the hotel into offices and sleeping quarters for railroad personnel c. 1903. Alterations were made to the building in 1913 and 1917. The Erie Railroad merged into the Erie Lackawanna Railroad in 1960, which ended passenger train service over the former Erie Delaware Division through Susquehanna in 1966. All remaining passenger service on the former Lackawanna route via Scranton, Pennsylvania, was discontinued on January 6, 1970. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

The New York, Lake Erie and Western Railway constructed the railroad through a dense forest in 1848 as a central spot for their work between Piermont and Dunkirk, New York. At that point, the village was nameless and had only one farm on the land nearby. That year, the railroad purchased 300 acres (120 ha) along the Susquehanna River for repair shops and other necessary facilities. Constructed at Susquehanna included the large machine shop (774 feet (236 m) by 138 feet (42 m)) with room for up to 40 locomotives, the boiler shop, blacksmith's shop, pattern shop, paint shop, foundry and engine rooms for those. The facilities included a larger lecture hall for workers, with a capacity of 600 people.

The Erie also constructed the Starrucca House, which contained a dining hall that was 120 feet (37 m) by 40 feet (12 m) was a hotel for passengers. The construction of the Starrucca House was necessary for a layover stop for engines coming out of Gulf Summit, New York that had to deal with the steep grade. The depot could feed 200 people and keep room as a hotel for the same amount of people. This was the first depot constructed entirely out of brick in the United States, containing a 2,400 volume library, a reading room and the lecture room.