It Started with the Train Station
There is no one event more responsible for the birth of modern Ramsey then the Paterson & Ramapo Railroad putting a train station on land purchased from a local landowner named Peter Ramsey in then Franklin Township. Without any official name, the station was nicknamed Ramsey’s Station, or as listed on the timetable: Ramsey’s.
What better way to start a small history project, a blog posting my favorite postcards of bygone eras in Ramsey, NJ, then to start with a postcard of the train station.
Ramsey Train Station
Built in 1868, it is the oldest passenger rail station in service in New Jersey. Within a couple of years the Paterson & Ramapo was sold to the New York & Erie, later just the Erie Railroad, one of the most important companies during the golden age of American railroads.
In 2004 a major restoration project took place, preserving the original design but making needed repairs. Today images of Ramsey’s past grace the interior of the station courtesy of the Ramsey Historical Association.
Tags: Train Station
Your blog of the Ramsey train station was of particular interest to me for two reasons: first, I am the author of six books in print on railroads (my last one 2008, is “Iron Rails in the Garden State” published by Indiana University Press) and am now working on a new one that will identify extant NJ railroad heritage sites (Ramsey depot will be included). Second, I have an on-line collection of old NJ railroad-related postcards so your image was of further interest.
I’d like to ask a favor. If you have a current color photograph of the Ramsey station that I might use I would appreciate it. This will save me a long trip from my home in mid-Jersey. Of course, I would provide full credit if I use it in the book. In return, I would be willing to share the postcard images with you. If you feel that this is something that you can do, please use my e-mail address to send the photo and let me know how you would like the credit line to read.
In any event, I enjoyed your blog and hope to see more.
Tony Bianculli
For anyone wondering, Tony was provided a selection of pictures of the Ramsey train station to use in his next book.
My first memories of Ramsey were of the trains. We moved into a house on Maple Street directly behind the station. Dad got a job with the Erie and he often worked in the station, Mom worked for a while with the telephone company. I played by the old stove in the station. We later moved to Church Street but as kids we had passes to ride on the trains to far away places like Wyckoff, Suffern or Ridgewood to see a movie for the afternoon. Once my brother road in a caboose to Buffalo N.Y. with my dad. The day we saw the first diesel engine come to town was a real memory.