Benson Street (NJT station)

Benson Street
The Benson Street station in February 2015.
Location	77 Benson Street, Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Owned by	Norfolk Southern (formerly Erie Railroad, Conrail, New Jersey Transit)
Line(s)
Platforms	2 ground-level
Tracks	2
Construction
Platform levels	1
Other information
Station code	1735 (Erie Railroad)
History
Opened	1883
Closed	September 20, 2002 (2002-09-20)
Electrified	Not electrified
Previous names	Glen Ridge, Chestnut Hill
Services
Preceding station   NJ Transit Rail   Following station Walnut Street toward Hackettstown Montclair-Boonton Line Rowe Street toward Hoboken or New York Penn Station Preceding station   Erie Railroad   Following station Walnut Street-Bloomfield toward Pavonia Terminal New York and Greenwood Lake Railroad Montclair toward Sterling Forest

Benson Street is former train station in a residential section of the town of Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

The station was constructed in 1883 in a unique English Tudor design with stucco facades and a slate roof as part of the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway, a Erie Railroad operation. Benson Street had a two platform, two track station with the gas lights on the side of tracks. It later became a stop on New Jersey Transit Rail Operations Boonton Line, which runs from Hoboken Terminal to Hackettstown. Service was discontinued to Benson Street Station (along with Rowe Street in Bloomfield and Arlington in Kearny) on September 20, 2002 when the Montclair Connection was opened. Glen Ridge is serviced to the south at Glen Ridge station in the downtown commercial district.

In May 2009, the Benson Street station was sold to private owners by New Jersey Transit to rehabilitate the aging structure, and the new owners began stabilizing the structure which had been damaged by a fire in the 1980s and was in serious disrepair. The building part of the Glen Ridge Historic District. On December 2, 2009, after a review from the New Jersey State Historical Preservation Organization, the new owners received approval to begin preliminary reconstruction of the former Benson Street Station. This rehabilitation project started by restructuring the basement of the building. By June 2010, the station had received new gutters, new walls and brand new roofing. Parts of the building's first floor paneling was kept, although the second story requires brand new paneling as it is converted into a new single family home. The restoration of the building was completed around May 2012.

See also

• Operating Passenger Railroad Stations Thematic Resource (New Jersey)
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Essex County, New Jersey