Englewood station (Erie Railroad)

Englewood
General information
Location	Depot Square, Englewood, New Jersey
Coordinates	40.89527°N 73.97490°W / 40.89527; -73.97490
Owned by	Northern Railroad of New Jersey (1859–1942) Erie Railroad (1942–1960) Erie Lackawanna Railway (1960–1976)
Line(s)	Erie Railroad Northern Branch
Construction
Platform levels	1
Other information
Station code	1921[1]
History
Opened	May 26, 1859[2]
Closed	September 30, 1966[3]
Rebuilt	1898,[4] 1925[5]
Key dates
September 1925	Original station depot razed.[6]
Former services
Preceding station Erie Railroad Following station Hudson Avenue toward Nyack Northern Branch Sheffield Avenue toward Jersey City
Proposed services Preceding station NJ Transit Following station Englewood Route 4 toward West Side Avenue West Side–Tonnelle Northern Branch Englewood Hospital Terminus Englewood Route 4 toward Hoboken Hoboken–Tonnelle Northern Branch

Englewood is a former railroad station at Depot Square in Englewood, New Jersey. Once served by the Erie Railroad's Northern Branch, the building is located in the city's town center along the ROW now used as a branch line by CSX Transportation.^[7] The station at Depot Plaza (as it was originally known) was one of the original stations upon opening of the Northern Railroad of New Jersey, which included two others in the town, Van Brunts (later Nordhoff) and Highwood (later Hudson Avenue). The building has undergone various incarnations as restaurants, a recording studio, and a performing arts school.^[8] The proposed Northern Branch Corridor Project extension the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail would pass the station along the line.

Northern Branch and HBLR

The station was a stop along Erie Railroad's suburban Northern Branch (NRRNJ)^[9] which originated/terminated at Pavonia Terminal on the Hudson River in Jersey City. It stopped being used for passenger rail transport in 1966 (by which time trains had been redirected to Hoboken Terminal). Service continued north into Rockland County, New York.

The Northern Branch Corridor Project is a proposed New Jersey Transit (NJT) project to extend the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail along the line providing service newly built stations along the route.^[10] The project has stalled due to a lack of funding.^[11] The line would pass by the Erie station and terminate at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. A station stop at Depot Square is the city’s much-preferred alternative to NJT's proposed new Englewood Town Center Station to the south.^[12] A third stop, Englewood Route 4, would be located at the intersection of Route 4 and Route 93.

Bennett Studios

The station building was Bennett Studios, a recording studio, from 2001 until 2011. The 6,500-square-foot studio was established by Dae Bennett, the son of Tony Bennett.^[13][14]

The Performing Arts School at BergenPAC

Since 2013 the building houses Bergen Performing Arts Center Performing Arts School. Students have the opportunity to perform on both the theater’s main stage and throughout the county. Programs also outreach to school districts and special needs groups.^[15][16]

See also

• Tenafly station, a NRHP-listed station along the line
• Demarest station, a NRHP-listed station along the line
• Timeline of Jersey City, New Jersey-area railroads
• Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource
• List of NJ Transit railroad stations

Bibliography

• Van Valen, James M. (1900). History of Bergen County, New Jersey. New York, New York: New Jersey Publishing and Engraving Company. Retrieved August 18, 2017.

References

1. "List of Station Names and Numbers". Jersey City, New Jersey: Erie Railroad. May 1, 1916. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
2. Baer, Christopher T. (April 2015). "A General Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, Its Predecessors and Successors and Its Historical Context: 1859" (PDF). Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. p. 32. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
3. "Old Landmark is Being Razed". The Bergen Evening Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. September 15, 1948. p. 34. Retrieved December 26, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Van Valen 1900, p. 587.
5. "Englewood's New Erie Station". The Bergen Evening Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. October 24, 1925. p. 66. Retrieved December 27, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Working on Wrecking Old Erie Station Begun". The Bergen Evening Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. September 12, 1925. p. 6. Retrieved November 5, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Northern Branch Corridor DEIS" (PDF). December 2011. Appendix H: Historic Properties and Resources. The Northern Railroad's chief engineer, along with New York lawyer J. Wyman Jones and a few friends, obtained control of six farms and mapped streets, and, on August 15, 1859, registered Englewood, the nucleus of the present city, in the County Seat of Hackensack. By 1887, the railroad had erected three stations in Englewood to accommodate travelers and businessmen; Van Brunts (later Nordhoff) in the south and Englewood and Highwood (near Ivy Lane) to the north. The 1884 Sanborn map of downtown Englewood shows the depot located on the west side of the railroad just north of Palisade Avenue….However, the former Englewood Station, modified extensively for its current use as a recording studio, has lost much of its historic architectural integrity.
8. "Photo of the Day: Performing Arts School, BergenPAC, Englewood NJ". A Boat Against the Current. January 5, 2014.
9. "Erie Railroad List of Stations and Numbers". Erie Railroad Company. May 1, 1916. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
10. "Northern Branch Corridor Project". US Department of Transportation. 2012. Archived from the original on April 18, 2010. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
11. Rinde, Meir (March 24, 2015). "Explainer: Will NJ Transit Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Ever Get to Bergen County?". NJ Spotlight.
12. "City Of Englewood NJ Master Plan 2014" (PDF). Englewoodone. 2014. p. 97. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 January 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2016. Locate Station at Depot Square, convenient to BergenPAC. NJ Transit should improve passenger convenience and station visibility by relocating the proposed new Englewood Town Center Station to the northern side of Palisade Avenue along Depot Square, between Bergen Performing Arts (PAC) and the former rail station. This is the commercial and cultural heart of Englewood as well as the historic location of the passenger rail service. This station stop is the commercial and cultural heart of Englewood as well as the historic location of the passenger rail service. This station stop is the City's much-preferred alternative to the W. Englewood Avenue station assumed in the DEIS.
13. Nash, Margo (August 1, 2004). "This Bennett's Heart Is in the Recording Studio". The New York Times.
14. "Bio". Dae Bennett. Archived from the original on 2017-01-14. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
15. Wander, Erik (November 21, 2012). "Englewood May Lease Former Bennett Studios to BergenPAC For School". Patch.
16. "The Performing Arts School at bergenPAC". bergenPAC.