Lansing Millis Memorial Railroad Station
Lansing Millis Memorial Railroad Station
Built in 1886 with private funds at the request of Charles Millis, son of
the town’s founding father, this Queen Anne style stone structure originally
served a three-fold purpose: on the lower level, a train depot for the New York
and New England Railroad; and, on the upper level, town offices and a public
library.
The NY&NE system was a reorganization of smaller lines with the grand vision of a direct rail route between, as the name implied, New England and New York state, which would have provided Millis with untold commercial opportunities; however, the line passing through Millis never progressed any further south than Woonsocket, RI. Nevertheless, the rail system is regarded as the most significant factor in the town’s independence from Medway, due much to its becoming a major influence in the promotion of economic growth in the town.
Despite the downturn of local rail service in the twentieth century, the building continued to serve in part as a train station until NY&NE successor New Haven Railroad discontinued passenger service altogether in 1967. Also, by then the town offices and library had moved to larger quarters; subsequently, the building was leased for commercial purposes, its current use.
Millis’ rail station is historically significant as it is one of the very few surviving NY&NE artifacts in the region from that great era of industrial expansion.
The NY&NE system was a reorganization of smaller lines with the grand vision of a direct rail route between, as the name implied, New England and New York state, which would have provided Millis with untold commercial opportunities; however, the line passing through Millis never progressed any further south than Woonsocket, RI. Nevertheless, the rail system is regarded as the most significant factor in the town’s independence from Medway, due much to its becoming a major influence in the promotion of economic growth in the town.
Despite the downturn of local rail service in the twentieth century, the building continued to serve in part as a train station until NY&NE successor New Haven Railroad discontinued passenger service altogether in 1967. Also, by then the town offices and library had moved to larger quarters; subsequently, the building was leased for commercial purposes, its current use.
Millis’ rail station is historically significant as it is one of the very few surviving NY&NE artifacts in the region from that great era of industrial expansion.
Locomotive “Hooksett”
[Photo courtesy of Medway Historical Society]
Millis Railroad History
Fred Waskiewicz, Millis Historical Commission
When traveling through Millis, it is hard to imagine the important role that rail transportation once played in our town’s daily life. Rusty rails, overgrown right-of-ways and deteriorating grade crossings offer little evidence of an enterprise that once played such a vibrant role in day-to-day life.
The idea of bringing rail service to what is now Millis began in 1847 with a petition to the state legislature to charter a rail line from Brookline to the Rhode Island state line. In 1851, that charter was granted for the Charles River Railroad to connect at Dover with the existing Charles River Branch Railroad (which ran from Brookline to Dover), and continue through Medway and on to Bellingham. The work to join these two lines was completed in 1853, although trains would not run to Medway until 1861 and ultimately to Woonsocket, RI in 1863. In 1855 the joint venture was reorganized as the New York & Boston Railroad.
Between 1853 and 1864, a less convenient option for rail travel was available to the residents of East Medway (Millis). The Medway Branch Railroad offered roundtrips between Medway to North Wrentham (now Norfolk), where passengers could connect with the Norfolk County Railroad to Boston (or, for a very short time at its beginning, to Blackstone.) The good folk of East Medway were offered stage connections to the line at Rockville. Also, travelers could take a handcar from Rockville to Medway when the trains weren’t running – which must have been an exhilarating trip during a 19th century New England winter. Understandably, passenger traffic was insufficient to keep the line profitable, it eventually went bankrupt, and the rails and stock were sold in 1864. (Note that local lore claims that this was a narrow-gauge railroad, probably due to the size of its equipment. However, that is historically and operationally improbable. The line’s existence pre-dated the introduction of narrow gauge railroading to the US. The MBRR’s charter allowed it to use the Norfolk County line - a narrow gauge train can not run on standard gauge tracks.)
Fred Waskiewicz, Millis Historical Commission
When traveling through Millis, it is hard to imagine the important role that rail transportation once played in our town’s daily life. Rusty rails, overgrown right-of-ways and deteriorating grade crossings offer little evidence of an enterprise that once played such a vibrant role in day-to-day life.
The idea of bringing rail service to what is now Millis began in 1847 with a petition to the state legislature to charter a rail line from Brookline to the Rhode Island state line. In 1851, that charter was granted for the Charles River Railroad to connect at Dover with the existing Charles River Branch Railroad (which ran from Brookline to Dover), and continue through Medway and on to Bellingham. The work to join these two lines was completed in 1853, although trains would not run to Medway until 1861 and ultimately to Woonsocket, RI in 1863. In 1855 the joint venture was reorganized as the New York & Boston Railroad.
Between 1853 and 1864, a less convenient option for rail travel was available to the residents of East Medway (Millis). The Medway Branch Railroad offered roundtrips between Medway to North Wrentham (now Norfolk), where passengers could connect with the Norfolk County Railroad to Boston (or, for a very short time at its beginning, to Blackstone.) The good folk of East Medway were offered stage connections to the line at Rockville. Also, travelers could take a handcar from Rockville to Medway when the trains weren’t running – which must have been an exhilarating trip during a 19th century New England winter. Understandably, passenger traffic was insufficient to keep the line profitable, it eventually went bankrupt, and the rails and stock were sold in 1864. (Note that local lore claims that this was a narrow-gauge railroad, probably due to the size of its equipment. However, that is historically and operationally improbable. The line’s existence pre-dated the introduction of narrow gauge railroading to the US. The MBRR’s charter allowed it to use the Norfolk County line - a narrow gauge train can not run on standard gauge tracks.)
Lansing Millis Station as it appears today
This was an era of rail expansion where development was driven as much by grandiose ideas of rail empires as sound business analysis. In that spirit, the NY&B was acquired by the Boston, Hartford and Erie Railroad in 1865. (Chosen names give a hint to the vision investors possessed as to how far their tracks would go, although in this case it also reflects control by the more powerful Erie Railroad.) Merger not always meant improvement and, in the case of cash-strapped lines such as the BH&E, service actually deteriorated. Maintenance suffered as well, and reports were plentiful of under-powered trains stalling due to loss of steam. In 1873, the BH&E declared bankruptcy and was reorganized as the New York and New England Railroad. Despite its name, no effort was ever made to extend the line to its namesake state (some sources blame this initially on dependence on connections with competing railroads; more probably it was due to redundant lines), but service improved remarkably. The line from Medway west was known as the NY&NE’s "Woonsocket Division”.
1879 Timetable
A timetable from 1879 indicates that the NY&NE serviced Millis (then East Medway) at that time with three eastbound and three westbound trains (probably daily as the timetable doesn’t indicate any restrictions.)
New Haven train at the Station [Photo courtesy of Millis Historical Society ]
Founding father Lansing Millis, who was a successful railroad entrepreneur, was a leading force behind NY&NE development. This was arguably his most important accomplishment, as the rail system is regarded as the most significant factor in our town’s independence from Medway. This is due much to the railroad becoming a major influence in the promotion of economic growth in the town, connecting a once-isolated village to the larger cities of Dedham, Boston, and Cambridge, providing a channel for widespread distribution in the years to come. In 1886, a year after town incorporation, a railroad station, one of the prettiest in New England, was constructed with native stone to service passengers and freight. The building also served as town offices and a library. The upgrade of equipment and the line led to increased traffic, with up to 18 trains running daily at one time. However, the NY&NE was just one of many victims of the financial Panic of 1893, suffering bankruptcy. It was reorganized as the New England Railroad and remained known as such until 1898 when the line was leased to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (more commonly known as the New Haven)
New Haven Buddliner. [ Photo courtesy of Hindy Rosenfeld collection]
In 1977, the state purchased the skeletal remains of the old NY&NE. In 1982 the Bay Colony Railroad took over freight operations under contract from the state, providing freight service from a connection with CONRAIL at Medfield Junction to the GAF industrial complex, the town’s remaining industry, located in the Clicquot neighborhood in Millis. Later, GAF purchased the line from its plant to the Charles River, but the subsequent closure of the GAF operation has left the entire segment dormant. An effort is underway to convert the former NY&NE segment from Needham to Dover to a rail-trail. From Needham east, the line is still in operation as MBTA’s Needham Line.
A westbound trolley in 1908 on Rte 109.
[Photo courtesy of Millis Historical Society]
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rail service in Millis was not limited to conventional locomotive and freight / passenger car train sets. In 1899, Westwood’s Norfolk Western Street Railway extended its streetcar line through Millis (and on to Medway and Franklin with trackage rights over another streetcar line to Milford.) This extension, called the Medfield and Medway Street Railway, shared a right-of-way with vehicular traffic on Main Street through much
of Millis. Rockville residents willing to take the short walk to the corner of Pleasant and Village streets could take advantage of this service as well. Falling into receivership, this system was purchased in 1904 and renamed the Dedham & Franklin Street Railway. It, too, fell on financial hard times and in 1915 underwent an ownership change and again renamed as the Medway & Dedham Street Railway. It would remain such until 1928 when its demise was permanently sealed by the automobile – the same competitor that would ultimately spell doom for passenger service on the rails.Modern-day residents of Millis do not enjoy any form of public transportation and the congested highways on which they are dependent do not offer relaxed connections to the outside world. Goods arrive and depart by truck. The NY&NE railroad station, survivor of many attempts at repurposing, and a derelict right-of-way through town, are all that remain of the ambitious attempts of a bygone era to directly link Millis with the population centers of the
of Millis. Rockville residents willing to take the short walk to the corner of Pleasant and Village streets could take advantage of this service as well. Falling into receivership, this system was purchased in 1904 and renamed the Dedham & Franklin Street Railway. It, too, fell on financial hard times and in 1915 underwent an ownership change and again renamed as the Medway & Dedham Street Railway. It would remain such until 1928 when its demise was permanently sealed by the automobile – the same competitor that would ultimately spell doom for passenger service on the rails.Modern-day residents of Millis do not enjoy any form of public transportation and the congested highways on which they are dependent do not offer relaxed connections to the outside world. Goods arrive and depart by truck. The NY&NE railroad station, survivor of many attempts at repurposing, and a derelict right-of-way through town, are all that remain of the ambitious attempts of a bygone era to directly link Millis with the population centers of the
Acknowledgements
Much of the information for this article came from "The New Grant: A History of Medway", by F.D. Donovan and "Images of America: Millis" by Charles Vecchi and Elizabeth Krimmel.
Much of the information for this article came from "The New Grant: A History of Medway", by F.D. Donovan and "Images of America: Millis" by Charles Vecchi and Elizabeth Krimmel.