Fort Edward, NY (FED)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$401,058

Station Ridership

FY 2011

8,867

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The Fort Edward station, which was built in 1900 for the Delaware and Hudson (D&H, succeeded by Canadian Pacific) Railway, is the third passenger depot in the town. The first, a brick structure built in 1849, was converted to a store when the 1880 passenger station was built on the site of the present station; 20 years later, that station was torn down to make way for the current building. The station today features brick construction to window sill height with wooden framing above. In late Victorian style, it possesses elegant wooden brackets supporting deep eaves and ornate roof dormers. A unique polygonal south end forms the waiting room. The roof is capped with a pyramidal cupola on its slates, and the edges of the hipped slate roof are curved tin.

The station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. An initial restoration between 1999 and 2000 repaired the roof and converted a baggage shed to a small waiting room and restroom for Amtrak passengers.

The second phase of what has been deemed a highly successful restoration of the entire interior began with an earmark in 2005 from a Federal Transportation Enhancement Program for $291,532. New York State supplied $36,442 and local funds amounted to about $40,000. This project created a café, store area and accessible bathrooms, replaced floor joists and added a new floor which utilizes radiant heat. The restored station reopened in April 2009 after six months of construction and now provides a home to a gallery and gift shop with an accompanying coffee stand.

This gallery and gift shop within the station, Timeless Arts, is an income-generating enterprise for more than 50 local artisans and visual artists. The station waiting room space is now used as community meeting and function space, as well as for musical entertainments, charitable functions and fundraisers.

As part of the Mobility First Initiative of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it is planned that the station receives a new information kiosk, at a cost of $11,000 and a new ADA-compliant concrete platform for $500,000.

Situated at the falls of the Hudson River, the area that would become Fort Edward was, prior to European settlement, a place where portages began, overland to the headwaters of Lake Champlain. The Dutch reached the area in 1731 and erected a fur-trading outpost. Beginning with the French and Indian Wars, the area’s location became strategic due to its location at the beginning of the easiest overland route north. Fort Lyman, a British outpost, was also built there. The name was changed in 1755 to Fort Edward in honor of Edward Duke of York, the king’s grandson. Although the fort was dismantled before the Revolutionary War, the name remained. While they had no military stockade, the settlers took arms against the British themselves, since they were in the path of Bourgoyne’s British army.

Fort Edward was established as a township on April 10, 1818. The small settlement in the southern section of the town, Moses Kill on the Hudson, also called Mock, was were Susan B. Anthony taught school in her early life before coming to renkown as a fighter for womens’ suffrage.

The village of Fort Edward was incorporated in September 1849. Besides being the most populous part of the township, it was where the early industrial development concentrated using the abundant waterpower available. Clothing manufacture, paper mills, saw mills and blast furnaces to process locally-dug iron ore all contributed to the growth of the town. Stoneware pottery was also manufactured in Fort Edward, beginning in 1858. The township also saw growth from mining and processing of other raw materials, such as flint, graphite, and limestone. Today the area is home to manufacturing of medical instruments, paper making machinery, paper products, metal products, furniture and electronic equipment.

The earliest canal in the township bypassed the dam and rapids at the mill site; it was replaced by the Lake Champlain Canal, opened in 1823, which stretches up to Whitehall, making a smooth water transport connection with Lake Champlain and Canada. Paper and pulp manufacturers, as well as ore shippers, used the canals extensively. The present Barge Canal was opened to traffic in 1913. Today, the Champlain Canal system still operates and is mostly used by pleasure craft.

Trains connecting to Whitehall and Vermont began to run as early as 1848, making connections to Ticonderoga and Plattsburgh by 1875. The D&H took over many of these lines in the early 20th century, and its successor, Canadian Pacific, continues to provide freight service to the region.

Service on the Adirondack is financed primarily through funds made available by the New York State Department of Transportation.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing or help with baggage at the unstaffed Fort Edward station; passengers are often looked after by the gallery owners. Fort Edward is served by four daily trains.