New Freedom in York County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

All Aboard!

New Freedom Station

— Heritage Rail Trail County Park —

All Aboard! Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), March 23, 2019

1. All Aboard! Marker

Inscription. The first New Freedom Station was built in the 1860s and later expanded. Passengers boarding trains here could go north to York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or south to Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. It also connected with the eastern-bound Stewartstown Railroad.

For 100 years, the station was at the center of town life. Passengers and goods came and went. It also housed a telegraph office and served as a mail depot. The last passenger train left New Freedom Station on April 30, 1971. It was restored in 2003 to its 1940s appearance.

[Captions:]
Northern Central R. R. Station, New Freedom, Pa.

Booming Businesses
New Freedom was named for Peter Free, the son of a German immigrant who purchased land here in the 1780s. With the railroad's arrival, the town prospered. In 1885, local businesses included a lumberyard, gristmill, brickyard, cigar factories, and an ice cream factory!

Station Design
This building reflects the Northern Central Railway's standard design for a "rural station." Three identical stations remain intact today between Baltimore and Lake Erie on the old NCR line.

Erected by York

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County Parks.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Colonial Era • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical date for this entry is April 30, 1971.

Location. 39° 44.399′ N, 76° 42.04′ W. Marker is in New Freedom, Pennsylvania, in York County. It is on North Front Street south of Maple Alley, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 117 North Front Street, New Freedom PA 17349, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Pennsylvania, specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country,

in the Susquehanna Valley,

and in Greater Harrisburg.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Homes on Wheels, Mobile Offices (within shouting distance of this marker);

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), March 23, 2019

2. All Aboard! Marker

The Farmers' Line (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Summit Grove (approx. half a mile away); Tannery At Shrewsbury Station (approx. 1.4 miles away); Lest We Forget To Remember (approx. 1.4 miles away); Spurgeon Milton Keeny (approx. 2.1 miles away); Shrewsbury (approx. 2.1 miles away); a different marker also named Shrewsbury (approx. 2.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in New Freedom.

National Register Plaque image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), March 23, 2019

3. National Register Plaque

New
Freedom
Railroad Station
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Dept. of the Interior

Credits. This page was last revised on March 23, 2019. It was originally submitted on March 23, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 630 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 23, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.