Watsessing Avenue station

Watsessing Ave.
Watsessing Avenue station as viewed from its outbound platform, showing results of rehabilitation project undertaken in 2008.
General information
LocationWatsessing Avenue
Bloomfield, New Jersey
Coordinates40°46′58″N 74°11′55″W / 40.7827°N 74.1986°W / 40.7827; -74.1986
Owned byNew Jersey Transit
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport NJ Transit Bus: 94
Construction
Structure typeBelow-grade
Platform levels2
Parking59 spaces, 2 accessible spaces[1]
Bicycle facilitiesRacks
AccessibleNo
Other information
Station code602 (Delaware, Lackawanna and Western)[2]
Fare zone4[3]
History
Rebuilt1912[4]
ElectrifiedSeptember 3, 1930[5]
Previous namesDoddtown[6]
Watsessing
Key dates
September 1910Original station depot razed[7]
Passengers
2017434 (average weekday)[8][9]
Services
Preceding station NJ Transit Following station
Bloomfield
toward Hackettstown
 Montclair-Boonton Line Newark Broad Street
toward New York Penn Station or Hoboken
Former services
Preceding station NJ Transit Following station
Bloomfield
toward Bay Street
 Montclair Branch Ampere
(before 1991)
toward Hoboken
Preceding station Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Following station
Bloomfield
toward Montclair
 Montclair Branch Ampere
toward Hoboken
Location
Map

Watsessing Avenue station (also known as Watsessing) is a New Jersey Transit rail station in Bloomfield, New Jersey, along the Montclair-Boonton Line. It is located beneath the Bloomfield Police Benevolent Association meeting hall (which formerly served as the station building) near the corner of Watsessing Avenue and Orange Street in Bloomfield. It is one of two stations on the line where the boarding platform is below ground level (the Glen Ridge station, two stops away from it, is the other). The Watsessing station and the Kingsland station in Lyndhurst on the Main Line shared similar designs (both station platforms are located below street level) and were built about the same time.

The current Glen Ridge, Bloomfield and Watsessing stations along the Montclair branch were all built in 1912 during a grade separation program by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. During New Jersey Transit's running of the line, two stations between Watsessing and Newark Broad Street were closed due to low ridership—the Roseville Avenue station in Newark, at the junction with the Morristown Line on September 16, 1984,[10] and Ampere station in East Orange on April 7, 1991.[11] The word "Watsessing" is a Native American term that translates to "mouth of the creek".[4]

The station has been on the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office listings since March 25, 1998, the last of the four stations from East Orange to Glen Ridge to receive the listing. On September 14, 2005, the entire Montclair Branch was added to the same listings, although Ampere, Bloomfield and Glen Ridge stations have been on the listings since March 17, 1984.[12]

  1. ^ "Watsessing Avenue Station". NJ Transit. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
  2. ^ "List of Station Numbers". Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. 1952. p. 2. Retrieved June 2, 2019.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Montclair-Boonton Line Timetables" (PDF). Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. May 23, 2010. pp. 1–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 28, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
  4. ^ a b Yanosey, Robert J. (2007). Lackawanna Railroad Facilities (In Color). Vol. 1: Hoboken to Dover. Scotch Plains, New Jersey: Morning Sun Books Inc. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-58248-214-9.
  5. ^ "D.L.&W. Electric Train Hoboken to Montclair". The Madison Eagle. September 5, 1930. p. 6. Retrieved January 31, 2021 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  6. ^ Shaw, William H. (1884). History of Essex and Hudson Counties, New Jersey. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Everts & Peck Company. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2010.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1910raze was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "QUARTERLY RIDERSHIP TRENDS ANALYSIS" (PDF). New Jersey Transit. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 19, 2013. Retrieved January 4, 2013.
  9. ^ Kiefer, Eric (February 21, 2018). "How Many Riders Use NJ Transit's Hoboken Train Station?". Hoboken Patch. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  10. ^ Morris & Essex Lines Timetable (September 16, 1984 ed.). Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. 1984.
  11. ^ Morris & Essex Lines Timetable (April 7, 1991 ed.). Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Transit Rail Operations. 1991.
  12. ^ New Jersey State Historical Preservation Office (April 1, 2010). "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places – Essex County". New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. p. 1. Retrieved July 25, 2010.