The Pottstown station, now referred to as the Charles W. Dickinson Transportation Center,[3] is a bus terminal of the Pottstown Area Rapid Transit system. It is located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.[4]

Pottstown
Charles W. Dickinson Transportation Center
Colebrookdale Railroad heritage railroad station
PART bus terminal
Former SEPTA regional rail station
Former Pottstown station and Charles W. Dickinson Transportation Center in 2020
General information
LocationHigh Street between Hanover and York Streets, Pottstown, Pennsylvania
Line(s)
ConnectionsSchuylkill River Trail
Local Transit PART bus lines
Local Transit SEPTA 93 to Norristown
History
ClosedJuly 26, 1981[1]
Services
Preceding station Colebrookdale Railroad Following station
Terminus Secret Valley Line Boyertown
Terminus
Former services
Preceding station SEPTA Following station
Birdsboro
Closed 1981
toward Pottsville
Pottsville Line Linfield
Closed 1978
Preceding station Reading Railroad Following station
Stowe
toward Pottsville
Main Line Sanatoga
Terminus Colebrookdale branch Mill Park
toward Barto
Reading Railroad Pottstown Station
Map
Coordinates40°14′41″N 75°39′9″W / 40.24472°N 75.65250°W / 40.24472; -75.65250
Area1.2 acres (0.49 ha)
Built1928
ArchitectDillenbeck, Clark
Architectural styleClassical Revival
NRHP reference No.84003514[2]
Added to NRHPJanuary 12, 1984

History and notable features

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The station was built in 1928 as a train station for the Reading Railroad and was active long enough to be served by SEPTA diesel service trains until 1981.[5] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 12, 1984, as the Reading Railroad Pottstown Station, and is located in the Old Pottstown Historic District, close to the Schuylkill River Trail.[6][7][8]

 
Reading Pottstown station from parking lot

The station was designed in the Classical Revival style by the railroad's engineering staff, rather than by an outside architect. Stations built in the nineteenth century by the Reading Railroad had usually been designed by outside architects, including Frank Furness.

During the twentieth century, the railroad became less profitable and most stations were designed in simpler styles in-house.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rail Service Marks End of an Era". The News Herald. Perkasie, Pennsylvania. July 29, 1981. p. 1. Retrieved February 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.  
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. ^ "Dialogue" (terminal clock photo with caption). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 19, 2014, p. A23 (subscription required).
  4. ^ "Motor Buses from Reading to Philadelphia." Shenandoah, Pennsylvania: Evening Herald, August 14, 1929, p. 5 (subscription required).
  5. ^ Heavens, Alan J. "Borough still awaiting its comeback." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 2014, pp. D01-D02 (subscription required).
  6. ^ a b Mintz, Elizabeth (1983). "Reading Railroad - Pottstown Station" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  7. ^ "Reading Co. Prepares for Bus Traffic." Shenandoah, Pennsylvania: Evening Herald, April 25, 1928, p. 3 (subscription required).
  8. ^ "Motor Buses from Reading to Philadelphia", Evening Herald, August 14, 1929.
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