300 East Gravers Lane, Philadelphia PA 19118
© Jane Mork Gibson, Workshop
of the World (Oliver Evans Press,
1990).
In 1831 the Philadelphia,
Germantown & Norristown Railroad reached Germantown,
and in 1854 a line was extended to Chestnut Hill, with
the terminus at Bethlehem Pike, east of Germantown
Avenue, instead of at Germantown Avenue near Cresheim
Creek, the originally planned terminus.
1
The Philadelphia
& Reading Railroad signed a 999 year lease in 1870
and took over control of the line. Between 1854 and 1870,
in Chestnut Hill there had sprung up summer homes at
first, and then year-round residences because of the easy
access to the city provided by the suburban railroad.
Originally steam locomotives provided the power, and it
was not until the 1930s that the Reading electrified the
Chestnut Hill Line.
Built in 1883, some thirty years after the inauguration
of rail service to Chestnut Hill east of Germantown
Avenue, the railroad station at Gravers Lane represents
the efforts of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad to
compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad's proposed line to
the western part of Chestnut Hill to be opened in 1884.
The architect of the Gravers Lane Station was Frank
Furness who designed several of the railroad's suburban
stations, and this station is considered by some to be
"one of [his] finest, extravagantly displaying his love
of abstracted and stylized High Victorian
forms..." 2
The building
consists of a one-story ticket office and passenger
waiting room, and another section that is a two-story
residence providing accommodations for the station
master's family. It is a brick structure with timber
sections, and has a hip roof, a port-cochere and a shed
porch, as well as a semicircular tower that rises from
the ticket office and is topped with gables, dormers, and
a conical roof. The station has recently been restored
through the efforts of the Chestnut Hill Historical
Society, but there is now no ticket selling or railroad
activity except for the trains and the passengers
boarding or arriving. In 1976 Conrail took over the rail
lines of the bankrupt Reading Railroad, including the
Chestnut Hill Line, and in 1983 ownership was transferred
to the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority
(SEPTA), the present operator. Following completion of
the commuter tunnel in Philadelphia linking the former
terminals of the Reading Railroad and the Pennsylvania
Railroad, since 1984 it has been possible to travel on
the suburban Chestnut Hill East Line (R-7) from Bethlehem
Pike in Chestnut Hill via downtown Philadelphia to
Trenton, New Jersey, without changing
trains.
In 1976 Conrail took over the rail lines of the bankrupt
Reading Railroad, including the Chestnut Hill Line, and
in 1983 ownership was transferred to the Southeast
Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the
present operator. Following completion of the commuter
tunnel in Philadelphia linking the former terminals of
the Reading Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad, since
1984 it has been possible to travel on the suburban
Chestnut Hill East Line (R-7) from Bethlehem Pike in
Chestnut Hill via downtown Philadelphia to Trenton, New
Jersey, without changing trains.
1 Data from this section
are from an interview with Frank Weer, as well as the
"Historic Structures Report: Preliminary," (of Gravers
Lane Station), on file at Philadelphia Historical
Commission, and also J. M. Moak.
2 Edward Teitelman and
Richard Longstreth, Architecture
in Philadelphia: A Guide, (Cambridge, 1974), p. 250.
Update May
2007 (by
Jane Mork Gibson):
This station continues to
operate on the Chestnut Hill East R-7 Line of SEPTA, with
trains that run to Philadelphia and continue to Trenton.
The station is unattended and the transit section is
closed. There are benches outside the building, but there
is no ticket booth or waiting room. The non-transit area
of the station is leased as a residential dwelling. In
1981 a local group began restoration of the building,
which continued for several years. In 1985 Chestnut Hill
was designated a Historic District on the National
Register of Historic Places, including this station by
Frank Furness.