Tulpehocken (SEPTA station)
Encyclopedia
Tulpehocken Station is a SEPTA Regional Rail
station at 314 West Tulpehocken Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
. This station is also known as Walnut Lane Station. The station building was built in 1878 from a design by Frank Furness
, according to the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings project.
The station is in zone 2 on the Chestnut Hill West Line
, on former Pennsylvania Railroad tracks, and is 8.5 track miles from Suburban Station. In 2004, this station saw 176 boardings on an average weekday.
, the actual architects for all of the stations on the Chestnut Hill West line (part of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the time) were William Brown and William Bleddyn Powell, who were under contract to PRR. This information comes from the Philadelphia Historical Commission in its nominations for the registry of Historic Places. (Furness designed station buildings on the Reading Railroad.) All of the Chestnut Hill West stations are now on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The Tulpehocken Station is a contributing property
in the Tulpehocken Station Historic District
of the National Register of Historic Places
.
The station building had either a ticket office or a business in it and a residence above it until 1978. The building was closed although the station stop continued. SEPTA provided little or no maintenance to the building and it deteriorated significantly.
In November 2007, the West Central Germantown Neighbors formed a committee, Save Tulpehocken Station, in an attempt to recover the station and return it to a viable use. Working with SEPTA, Philadelphia City Planning, and local politicians, the local residents raised funds to match a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The grant funded a project manager to assess the structural condition of the building and to identify a viable business use for it.
In the spring of 2009, SEPTA received federal economic stimulus funds which were allotted to the Chestnut Hill West line for building repairs. As a result, the Tulpehocken Station building received repairs which will encourage a business developer to make use of the space.
SEPTA Regional Rail
The SEPTA Regional Rail system consists of commuter rail service on thirteen branches to over 150 active stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States and its suburbs. Service on most lines runs from 5:30 AM to midnight...
station at 314 West Tulpehocken Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. This station is also known as Walnut Lane Station. The station building was built in 1878 from a design by Frank Furness
Frank Furness
Frank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan...
, according to the Philadelphia Architects and Buildings project.
The station is in zone 2 on the Chestnut Hill West Line
Chestnut Hill West Line
The Chestnut Hill West Line , is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail system. The route serves the northwestern section of Philadelphia with service to Germantown, Mount Airy, and Chestnut Hill...
, on former Pennsylvania Railroad tracks, and is 8.5 track miles from Suburban Station. In 2004, this station saw 176 boardings on an average weekday.
History
Although commonly attributed to architect Frank FurnessFrank Furness
Frank Heyling Furness was an acclaimed American architect of the Victorian era. He designed more than 600 buildings, most in the Philadelphia area, and is remembered for his eclectic, muscular, often idiosyncratically scaled buildings, and for his influence on the Chicago architect Louis Sullivan...
, the actual architects for all of the stations on the Chestnut Hill West line (part of the Pennsylvania Railroad at the time) were William Brown and William Bleddyn Powell, who were under contract to PRR. This information comes from the Philadelphia Historical Commission in its nominations for the registry of Historic Places. (Furness designed station buildings on the Reading Railroad.) All of the Chestnut Hill West stations are now on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. The Tulpehocken Station is a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
in the Tulpehocken Station Historic District
Tulpehocken Station Historic District
The Tulpehocken Station Historic District is a historic area in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Large suburban houses were built in the area from about 1850 to 1900 in a variety of styles including Carpenter Gothic, Italianate, and Bracketed as part of the Picturesque...
of the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
The station building had either a ticket office or a business in it and a residence above it until 1978. The building was closed although the station stop continued. SEPTA provided little or no maintenance to the building and it deteriorated significantly.
In November 2007, the West Central Germantown Neighbors formed a committee, Save Tulpehocken Station, in an attempt to recover the station and return it to a viable use. Working with SEPTA, Philadelphia City Planning, and local politicians, the local residents raised funds to match a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The grant funded a project manager to assess the structural condition of the building and to identify a viable business use for it.
In the spring of 2009, SEPTA received federal economic stimulus funds which were allotted to the Chestnut Hill West line for building repairs. As a result, the Tulpehocken Station building received repairs which will encourage a business developer to make use of the space.
