Hadlyme Station

Hadlyme Station. . , (Upper middle photo) , At one time, the town of Chester had three train stations: (from south to north) Chester, North Chester, and Hadlyme-all of which would have been within sight of this location looking south. , This location is the site of Hadlyme station. The Hadlyme "station" you see today is actually the third building to stand at this location. It is actually a flagstop station, which means scheduled trains don't stop here unless flagged to a stop or by passenger requests. In the photo at right (looking east, with the Connecticut River in the background) is the second station built on this site in 1903 after the original 1880s station was destroyed by fire. At the time of this photo, sometime before 1918, William Gillette's massive home across the river was still under construction-in this case, obscured by the station. This station building still exists today as a private home, about 300 feet up the road to the west. , Running diagonally across the foreground in the photo is the unpaved Kings Highway, today known as Ferry Road. (Photo from the Connecticut State Historical Society, Hartford, CT), (lower left site plan) , The Hadlyme station site plan and elevations above are from the original New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad plans. (From the Max Miller collection.), (lower middle photo) , Below, the last freight train on the Valley line rolls north past the Hadlyme station site in March of 1968. The Penn Central Railroad would absorb the line less than a year later and would rid itself of extraneous routes and operations. Thankfully, within three years, the line would be saved and reopened as the present day Valley Railroad. (Photo courtesy of the Chester Historical Society.), The Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, After push barges and sail-powered ferries crossed the river for nearly a century, the steam-powered Middlesex and, in 1914, the Cheslyme were a sensible change. Later, a gas-powered tug and barge combination was employed until the current ferry took over in 1949. Below, the two steam ferries are seen on the Hadlyme side of the river in this 1914 photo. (Photo courtesy Connecticut River Museum.), Above, the Cheslyme carries passengers and cars east across the river to the Hadlyme side. On the very left at the top of the hill can be seen Gillette Castle and, beneath that, his houseboat Aunt Polly resting in its slip. Below, the Selden I and barge Shailer have just pulled off the Chester side with just a few pedestrians on board. (Photos courtesy the Chester Historical Society.), This marker is provided by the Friends of the Valley Railroad, with the assistance of Valley Railroad historian Max Miller, the Chester Historical Society, and the Connecticut River Museum, and made possible by the generous support of the Essex Savings Bank Community Fund and the Community Foundation of Middlesex County's Connecticut Humanities Fund and River View Cemetery Fund.