Croton-Harmon, NY (CRT)

Construction of a rail line north from New York City began in 1846. By the early 20th century, a steam terminal was built at Croton where trains could switch from electric to steam power.

Amtrak/Metro North Station
4 Veteran's Plaza and 1 Croton Point Avenue
Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520-3054

Annual Ticket Revenue (FY 2023): $2,636,263
Annual Station Ridership (FY 2023): 49,146

Ownerships
Routes Served
Contact
Local Community Links

Facility Ownership: Metropolitan Transportation Authority/Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North
Parking Lot Ownership: Village of Croton-on-Hudson
Platform Ownership: Metropolitan Transportation Authority/Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North
Track Ownership: Metropolitan Transportation Authority/Metropolitan Transportation Authority Metro-North

Jane Brophy
Regional Contact
governmentaffairsnyc@amtrak.com
For information about Amtrak fares and schedules, please visit Amtrak.com or call 1-800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245).

The Croton-Harmon station is a modern concrete, brick, and glass structure at the foot of Croton Point on the former New York Central Railway yards. The station serves Metro-North Railroad as well as Amtrak, and provides more than 1,900 parking spaces for commuters in this suburban community. The station is fully accessible and includes elevators, tactile warning strips, tactile signage and variable message signs. This large station possesses two overpasses and three platforms for its four tracks, as this is the terminal where trains switch between electrical (south of Croton-Harmon) and diesel (north on the Hudson line) locomotives.

It is not known what became of earlier stations, but a 1956 news article documents that plans were made to open a modern station at Harmon, at a cost of $150,000. On May 8, 1963, the station changed its name to Croton-Harmon. The current multi-level station was constructed in 1988.

This riverside area, with its peninsula projecting into the Hudson, is bordered to the south by the Croton River. As early as 4950 BC, the region has been populated; in 1645, the Kitchawanc tribe, part of the Wappinger Confederacy of the Algonquin Nation, ceded the area to the Dutch, preparing the way for settlers who came in the 1660s. In 1677, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, who later became the first locally-born mayor of New York City, acquired land to create a manor in this area, for which he was awarded a Royal Patent. Croton-on-Hudson thus evolved as an enclave within the manor, and was first known as Croton Landing. Many of Croton-on-Hudson’s early settlers farmed or worked the mills developing on the Croton River.

The advent of the railroad in the 19th century had tremendous impact upon the area’s growth. Construction of a rail line from New York City to Poughkeepsie via Croton-on-Hudson began in 1846. By 1903, electric trains began operating out of Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, and construction began on a steam terminal at Croton Point, where trains could switch from electric to steam power to continue northward.

Clifford B. Harmon, a developer from New York City, decided around 1906 to create a community where artists, musicians and singers could gather to share their creative energy in a relaxed setting. He purchased 500 acres of Van Cortlandt land on the south side of Croton-on-Hudson and laid out property. Harmon, who was deeply involved in the technology of his age as well as its arts, not only drove early cars but also learned to fly early airplanes. Croton-on-Hudson was established as a village in 1898, and Harmon sold some of his land for the steam terminal in 1903, with the stipulation that the station should always bear his name. The terminal for steam locomotives was completed in 1913, heralding a new era for the village as a railroad town. Along with the artists and writers who frequented the place—luminaries such as Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks—the railroad workers and dam-builders also settled there.

Work on the first Croton Dam began in 1837, after several water crises in New York City made certain the need for a reliable supply of potable water. It was finished in 1842. The project provided employment for many Irish immigrants of the era, and it is estimated that at one point 10,000 workers were on the project. The New Croton aqueduct was completed in 1890, and the New Croton Dam, designed to meet the ever-increasing needs of the city to the south, was completed in 1907 after 15 years of construction. At 301 feet high and 2,400 feet across, the dam was hailed as the second-largest work of hand-hewed masonry in the world at the time and cost $7,700,000 to build.

Empire Service trains are supported by funds made available by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). The Ethan Allen Express is financed primarily through funds made available by the Vermont Agency of Transportation and NYSDOT. The seasonal Berkshire Flyer (July-September) is supported by funds made available by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and NYSDOT.

Image courtesy of Metro-North Railroad.