The Rome and Fort Bull Railroad Station came to the village from McConnellsville, NY , about 13 miles west of lH”r e . I t was dona t ed t o the village in 1974.
The station was built c. 1911, the style copied from Italianate or bracketed architecture of the Victorian era.

It was appar ently t he fourth station on the Rome, Wa tertown, and Ogdensburg RR. Erie Cana l Village a l so has the first station on this same railroad, it being
Bennett’s Tavern, which served as station, with food and drink, until the railroad built its own.

The s tation has ·its original structure and woodwork, such as oiled flooring. The wainscotting on walls and ceiling i s original to the building. The wainscotting
was done not for decorative purposes, but because plaster would crack from the heavy train traffic.

The wai ting r oom bench , l ike in many stations, was wall mounted without legs so the f loor could be easily swept. The bench is also original to the building.
Arms were added to the benches to discourage drifters from sleeping on the bench and inconveniencing the passengers.

An 1864 map shows the location of Rome and McConnellsville as well as the railroads throughout the state of New York.
The potbelly stove is a typical railroad type. The “pigeon-hole”‘ were used for filing schedules and RR forms . On the wall, different types of RR papers, some
dating back to the 189O’s.

The watertown and Rome Railroad was completed in Watertown in 1851. In 1861 the l ine be came the Rome, \fa te rtown , & Ogdensb urg RR.
When the RW&O was leased to the New York Central RR in 1891, it operated 643 miles of track in uppe r NY state. The two-tone green exterior color of our station
is in accordance with NY Central RR practice.

The man operating the station was an emp l oy ee of the RR. He was ca ll ed an “agent” if his s tation was small; a “supe r i ntendent” if his station was large. His duties
were many, in cluding selling ticke t s , being a good bookkeeper, a faithful switch t ender , and some times telegraph operator .