Hunts Point Station, N.Y., N.H. and H.R.R.
1915
Hunts Point Station, N.Y., N.H. and H.R.R.
Hunts Point Station, ca. 1915.
The Hunts Point Station was a stop on the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad Company. Situated on the “suburban” Harlem River Branch, the company constructed a series of new station houses between 1908 and 1910 while the line was being rebuilt. Cass Gilbert (who NYT architectural writer Christopher Gray called "the newly minted [..] starchitect with the 1899 commission for the United States Custom House at Bowling Green.") designed nine stations in the Bronx. Each of the new stations had a different architectural look. Hunts Point is perhaps the most whimsical, rendered in a French Renaissance style, with pointed lacy dormer windows, spires, and crenellations.
While the Harlem River Branch was originally opened for freight, it ended up a popular passenger route as well for a time. Revenue and ridership had dwindled by the late 1920s, and the line ceased service in 1931.
Today the building still stands but is occupied by various small businesses including eateries, a beauty parlor, a dentist, and seemingly a topless bar. While many of the charming architectural features have been lost to time, the peaked dormers remain.