{"nrhp_refnum":"04001027","name":"Simpson Street Subway Station and Substation #18 (IRT)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Jct. of Westchester Ave., bet. Simpson St. and Southern Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bronx","county":"The Bronx","state":"NY","lat":40.82421731800008,"lon":-73.89318290499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-09-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture","Art","Engineering","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An elevated side-platform subway station and an adjoining electrical substation (Substation #18) on the White Plains Road line in the Bronx, near Westchester Avenue, Simpson Street and Southern Boulevard. Both were completed in 1904 as part of the original Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) Contract 1 line.","why_significant":"The station is significant for transportation, community planning and development, and social history, and for engineering, architectural design and art. It is one of 12 three-track elevated side-platform stations on the Broadway and East Bronx branches of the original line and retains a high degree of integrity. Substation #18 is one of only seven surviving substations built for the original IRT system and has a notable Beaux-Arts exterior.","narrative":"Simpson Street Station in the Bronx is an elevated subway stop on the White Plains Road line, completed in 1904 as part of the first Interborough Rapid Transit line. Two side platforms with canopies are served by two Queen Anne-style control houses, covered stairways and decorative cast-iron railings. The downtown control house keeps much of its original finish, while the uptown house has lost many details. Next to the station, Substation #18 at 1043 Simpson Street is a six-story Beaux-Arts building with a limestone base, brick and terra cotta upper levels, and a Corinthian cornice, designed to resemble a carriage house or fire station. It converted alternating current to direct current for the system and is one of seven surviving substations from the original eight. The station is recognized for its role in transportation and in the growth of the surrounding Bronx neighborhood, which was then a developing residential area, and for its engineering and architectural design by Heins & LaFarge, working under engineer William Barclay Parsons.","period_of_significance":"1904","architect_builder":"Parsons, William Barclay (engineer); Heins, George L. and LaFarge, Christopher G. (architects)","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals/Beaux-Arts; Late Victorian/Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The downtown control house retains much of its original finish, while the uptown control house is in poor condition with missing brackets and cresting and covered windows. Substation #18 keeps its interior configuration and some original equipment, though most equipment has been replaced.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:54.104519-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/04001027.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001027/68180a490f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001027/68180a490f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":null,"credit_html":"Unknown author, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simpson_Street.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312116","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simpson_Street_station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2612718"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/the-bronx/simpson-street-subway-station-and-substation-18-irt-04001027/"}