36 Main St, Roslyn, NY, 11576

Roslyn Railroad Station

Station Plaza, Roslyn Heights

Date Built1887
Original UseRailroad Station/Passenger Shelter
Restoration StatusCompleted Restoration Date1922. Moved 1960s & 1986
Roslyn Landmark Society Covenant No
View House Tour Details 1983 (Page 92)

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The first Roslyn Railroad Station, a simple wooden structure, was built in 1864 to provide service on the Long Island Rail Road which had been completed as far as Glen Head. Stephen Taber, a Roslyn landowner and a member of the Railroad Board, arranged for the purchase of the right-of-way. The first train stopped at Roslyn on January 25,1865. The stone overpass over Main Street was completed by Samuel Dugan in that year. This station was demolished in 1887 to make way for the present structure. Work on the new station started in May, 1887.

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The following article from the "Roslyn News" for September 17, 1887, is quoted in full, including grammatical quaintness:

"ROSLYN'S NEW DEPOT

At last the Long Island Railroad Co. has given Roslyn what they have so long desired and rightfully deserved—a new depot. And in doing so they have gone far beyond the expectancy of our people for they have erected a structure that is the handsomest on this Branch without an exception. It is built of brick with a platform roofed over and of quite large dimensions which is a convenience and protection from rain and snow, for the patrons of this line. Its interior is hardwood finish, and the ticket office is neatly fitted up with all the modern conveniences. On the front of the building is a neat sign, as imitation of marble, with the word "Roslyn" upon it.

Roslyn should feel justly proud of such a building, as it shows enterprise, and to a new comer in our village it impresses him that here lies enterprise and a taste of beauty. The old veteran, our wooden depot has been torn down and may be, perchance, in the yard of some poor man, and the merry tune of the bucksaw is heard, cutting it to pieces to keep the household warm. The railroad corresponded to our call for they have done their duty in a manner which should please everybody.

The next thing to do is to whistle up the Village Improvement Society, and have the grounds around the depot laid out in flower beds and a driveway. We admit that the season for flowers and shrubs is too far gone for such a thing this summer, but give them notice beforehand so they will have time to prepare themselves for the coming Spring. What with a new depot, observatory and parsonage, and all of them fine specimens of architecture, who can say that Roslyn is dead? And if it be true, surely then this is the resurrection, and our people should be happy. We should all be pleased to know that when a new-comer arrives in our village on the train that the first step he takes within our jurisdiction is not upon a platform of an old and dilapidated structure, but upon the platform of a new and beautiful depot, and for this we much thank the dignatories of the Long Island Railroad."

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The "handsomest station on the Branch," as described in the Roslyn News, originally was a brick building in the High Victorian Style with a cast-iron cresting along the roof ridge which terminated with an iron pinnacle at each end. It served many well-known commuters as Clarence Mackay and Benjamin Stern. Old-time residents recall that Mr. Mackay sometimes arrived at the station in his carriage to the accompaniment of coaching horns but Stern's arrivals were somewhat less dramatic. The area in which the station stands was known as "Bunker Hill" during the early days of the depot. Many of the residents were Irish immigrants and Saturday nights often were exciting.

For many years it was thought that Samuel Adams Warner, a prominent architect who practiced at 132 Broadway, New York City from 1864 until his death in 1897, was the designer of the station. Warner was the architect of the Marble Collegiate Church at 29th Street and Fifth Avenue, New York City, and public buildings as far away as Texas, Louisiana and South Carolina. He also designed many commercial buildings in New York City, a number of which still stand in the Soho Cast-Iron District. His obituary in The New York Times for 6/24/1897 states that he left an estate of $1,500,000. Warner lived nearby and Warner Avenue as named in his memory. A descendant, Harry Baltazzi, Cpt.,USN,Ret, wrote that family tradition credits Samuel Adams Warner with having donated the land upon which the station stands. Warner designed a house for his daughter, Emma (Mrs. Xenophon) Baltazzi, on nearby Railroad Avenue. This house, in the Swiss Chalet Style, was built about 1875. Like the station, it has a jerkin-headed roof (T.G. 1961-1962 "Aalund").

Recently the Long Island Rail Road donated prints of some old water-soaked drawings of the Roslyn Station to the Landmark Society. The earliest drawings, which have been reconstructed by Bruce Gemmell, are the plans from which the present station was first built. The drawings are not signed. If an architect of Warner's prominence was the designer, his name would have appeared on the drawings. While one of the sheets is labeled "Roslyn," the signboard on the station building does not include the name of the station. The Sea Cliff Station, apart from its smaller size and pitched roof, could have been built from the Roslyn plans. There probably are other stations equally similar. Probably all were designed by a now unknown architect who worked for the railroad. The Sea Cliff Station was completed in May 1888.

In 1921 the Long Island Rail Road apparently decided that the Roslyn Station required modernization. More commodious ticket facilities were needed as well as lavatory facilities which apparently were completely missing. In addition, the High Victorian Station was dated and seemed old fashioned. The railroad architect, identified by the initials "H.N.R." prepared two proposals, both dated May 25, 1921. The architect was Henry W. Retlien Jr. (1889-1968(7)) who started work for the Long Island Rail Road as a "architectural draftsman" in 1915 and retired with the title of "Architect" in 1958 (R.H.H.W.). Both his proposals included the construction of public lavatories at the north end of the station building, where they have remained ever since. The doorway at the north end of the station in the principal (east/trackside) front was to be replaced with a window. The ticket office

in the east bay window was to be extended forward into the Waiting Room, and the interior addition extended to the north. The telegraph counter remained in the trackside (east) projecting bay window, from which the telegraph operator would have a clear view of the track in both directions. The exterior changes mostly involved the north and south train sheds. These were entirely cosmetic in intent and aimed at converting the High Victorian Station to one in the Queen Anne Revival Style. The changes included extensive use of applied half-timbering with rendered, or stucco, infilling. In one of the designs (Plan A) the roofs of the train sheds remained, but the Gothic gable field screens and decorative balustrades were to be removed and the gable-fields in-filled with decorative wooden bracing and the supporting piers made heavier. The straight angular brackets were removed and replaced with brackets which were concave on their lower surfaces. The Victorian 1 /1 sash peripherally framed with small panes were replaced with 6/1 sash of the period. One of the south platform windows was to be replaced with a doorway. The jerkin-headed roof of the station was to be modified to a gable-ended roof with much extended eaves. The second proposal (Plan B) was very like the first except that the train-shed roofs were to be re-constructed so there would be parallel paired gable-ended roofs, joined together to form the north and south train sheds. Neither of the 1922 proposals were implemented.

In 1922 the Long Island Rail Road actually made the changes which have more or less survived to the present day. These were dated July 17,1922, and were "made by C.M.D." Actually "C.M.D." was the draftsman and cannot be identified. The architect again was Henry W. Retlien Jr. (R.H.H.W.) In this design a less ambitious Queen Anne Revival effect was aimed for no half-timbering was employed. This probably represented an effort to achieve conformity with the basic "Dutch Colonial" (gambrel roof) stations of Bayside, Manhasset, Mineola, Huntington, Northport, Riverhead, Bay Shore, Hampton Bays and Amagansett, all constructed during a 20-year period. (R.H.H.W.) The plans for the train sheds were the same as those of the 1921 Plan "A" (designation by RGG) except that the gable field decorative bracing was much simplified. The jerkin-headed roof of the main building was retained although the gable-field brackets were removed. The eaves of the main building were to remain the same and the ceramic chimneys were to be simplified only slightly. The north track-side door was to be converted to a window and the Victorian sash was to be replaced with Regency-type sash which required the removal of the frames of small panes around the large central panes, but which provided for the retention of their original locations. The lower part of the (west) track-side facade gable-field trim was to be removed and the patterned slate roof replaced with a composition strip shingle roof. All of the exterior brickwork was to be stuccoed. On the interior, lavatories were to be installed at the north end of the station and the ticket office, in the east bay window, was to be very much enlarged toward the west and extended to the north to contact the wall of the new lavatories.

It is not known when the ticket office was shifted to the south end of the building. Oak settees were placed peripherally around the waiting room. The aforementioned changes were accomplished and most of them have survived until the present. It is not known how the community responded to the changes. Probably for the most part they approved. In 1940 Christopher Morley was operating his Millpond Playhouse in the Roslyn War Memorial Building, now a part of the Bryant Library. In August of that year he wrote to Mr. George LeBoutillier of the Long Island Rail Road and complained that the "lovely old grenadine-pink brickwork" of the station had been covered with "a thick matrix of dull, mudcolored stucco" which he thought should be removed. Morley's protests apparently carried weight and the issues of "Hempstead Newsday" for 11/8/1940 and 11/13/1940 both carried articles describing how Christopher Morley forced the Long Island Rail Road to remove the stucco on the Roslyn Station. This story probably has become one of Roslyn's favorite legends. The November 13th article also stated "Recently the Long Island Rail Road found that its Roslyn passenger business was increasing rapidly due to Morley plays now being presented at the Millpond Playhouse."

By 1980 both north and south train-sheds had deteriorated very badly. TheChief Engineer of the Long Island Rail Road notified the Incorporated Village of Roslyn that his plan was to demolish the train sheds and extend the existing east and west pent-roof porches along the north and south fronts. The Village Board protested this alteration, although the station is not actually in Roslyn, because of the importance of the train sheds to the architectural significance of the station. Mr. Gaut accepted this protest and agreed to restore both train sheds.

Work actually started in early June 1981. The north train shed was demolished and the standing south train shed duplicated on the north end of the station. When the north train shed had been reconstructed the procedure was repeated at the south end. The Landmark Society provided replicas of the period mouldings and retained Frank Welch to do a paint analysis. The original gray paint, found by Mr. Welch, was used by the Long Island Rail Road in painting the trim. Actually, the work done by the Railroad was so gratifying that the Landmark Society decided to hold a reception in honor of the Long Island Rail Road carpenters and painters who worked on the train shed reconstruction. Permission was requested to hold the event in the station on 9/23/81, and, in addition to the Society members and painters and carpenters, a number of railroad officials and political personages were present. The party was a great success and everyone came early and stayed late.

In 1988, Roslyn Railroad Station was moved to the south side of Lincoln Avenue, and the station house was restored to its 19th-century origins in recent years.


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Top 894 edited 1

179 1

Circa 1910

Top 893 edited 1

Circa 1915

Scan 722

Circa 1935

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Roslyn Railroad Station-July 2, 2021

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