Westport, NY (WSP)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$227,370

Station Ridership

FY 2011

4,520

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

The Victorian-era passenger station in Westport was built in 1875-1876 for the Delaware and Hudson Company (D&H, succeeded by Canadian Pacific Railway), added onto in 1891 and extended further in 1908. The station’s restoration since 1974 is a good example of adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of an older station.

In 1974 the station was sold to the town of Westport for $1, with a long term lease on the land from D&H. During 1976, the Westport Historical Society initiated a major restoration of the station, particularly the lobby. With the sponsorship of the Westport Historical Society, the Depot Theater was founded in 1979 and became the primary occupant of the station. In 1988, the Depot Theater acquired funding for the restoration of the stations cupola through donations from two local families.

A subsequent renovation began in 1998. The original slate roof was replaced, and repairs made to the ornamental fascia as well as restorations to the baggage carts, installation of ADA-compliant bathrooms, rewiring to code necessary for theater operation and installation of new signage at a cost of approximately $225,000. The majority of the funding came from an Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) grant; the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) provided $50,000; the Great American Stations Foundation provided $16,000; and an earmark from Senator Little provided $20,000. The theater group itself raised money for landscaping, painting the station, and refinishing the floors. Since then, there have been rehabilitations of the electrical wiring, work on the insulation, replacement of doors, and other miscellaneous projects.

In 2000, the town of Westport and the Depot Theater won an Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) Award for the restoration of the depot. The AARCH Awards Program annually recognizes exemplary historic preservation work throughout the Adirondack Park. The restoration was also written about by the NYSCA architectural planning and design program.

As part of the Mobility First Initiative of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, it is planned that the station receive a new wheelchair lift and enclosure as well as paint markings for accessible parking stalls on existing paving, at an estimated cost of $26,000.

The town was founded by William Gilliland in 1764, who surveyed and established Westport as well as the neighboring towns of Elizabethtown and Willsboro; however, this initial settlement was destroyed during the Revolutionary War by General Burgoyne’s army on its march south from Canada. In 1804, Charles Hatch made his way to the shore of North Bay on Lake Champlain, and by 1815 the town separated from Elizabethtown, eight miles away and established its own government. The settlement prospered with its grist mills, saw and pulp mills, as well as stores, taverns, a tannery, and a cloth factory. The Sisco furnace established there in 1840 processed iron ore from local mines, but while it was technologically advanced for its day, did not prosper or persist.

However, beginning in the mid-19th century, medicinal springs in Westport encouraged the beginning of resort trade. Its social scene was reported upon in the New York Times and Boston Globe until the 1930s. The Westport Hotel, standing across from the station, also dates from that same era. The town is also the location of the Essex County Fair, with exhibition buildings and a trotting track still used today, easily visible from the depot. Westport is said to be the birthplace of the Adirondack chair, that symbol of summer familiar to many Americans.

Camp Dudley, established by Sumner F. Dudley on Lake Champlain in 1891, is the oldest continuously-run YMCA camp in the United States and still very active.

The Depot Theater not only occupies a place in the station, it occupies a place in local culture. A professional Equity theater, it produces stage plays all summer long, and other musical and film events throughout the year. The Depot Theater additionally hosts a year-round lobby gallery featuring artists and shows from northern New York State, working with the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks—also headquartered in Westport.

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

A caretaker opens and closes the station waiting room for passengers, but Amtrak does not provide ticketing or help with baggage. Westport is served by two daily trains.