{"nrhp_refnum":"05000226","name":"242nd Street-Van Cortlandt Park Station (IRT)","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Above Broadway at the jct. of W. 242nd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bronx","county":"The Bronx","state":"NY","lat":40.88903621900005,"lon":-73.89839476699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-03-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture","Engineering","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An elevated, side-platform subway station with a single control house, located above Broadway at West 242nd Street in the Bronx. It opened in 1908 as the terminal station of the IRT Broadway/7th Avenue Line under Contract 1.","why_significant":"The station is significant for transportation, community planning and development, and social history, and for engineering and architectural design. It is the sole remaining Contract 1 Victorian Gothic-style terminus and one of six Victorian-style elevated stations on the line. The line's opening led to dense residential development around the station.","narrative":"Above Broadway at West 242nd Street in the Bronx, this elevated subway station opened in 1908 as the northern end of the IRT Broadway line. It has two side platforms with canopies, covered stairways, and a single control house set across the tracks. Designed by the firm Heins & LaFarge in a Victorian Gothic style, the copper-clad control house has a hipped roof, fleur-de-lis ridge cresting, and a projecting central bay. Engineer William Barclay Parsons handled the structural work. Cast-iron railings and stair canopies carry the typical IRT fretwork and scroll patterns, and an original scrolled station sign survives as the only one left in the system. An overpass and stairs were added about 1925 when the street was widened. The station is the last Victorian Gothic terminus from the first IRT contract, and the line's arrival helped turn the surrounding area into a dense residential suburb.","period_of_significance":"1908-1925","architect_builder":"Parsons, William Barclay (engineer); Heins, George L. and LaFarge, Christopher G. (architects)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in transit use. The control house windows have been restored and the interior recently renovated, remaining substantially as built.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.468652-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000226.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000226/cda70ab081-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000226/cda70ab081-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Adam Moss from Highland Park, NJ, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Cortland_Park-242nd_Street_station_Track_1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Adam Moss from Highland Park, NJ, United States</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Cortland_Park-242nd_Street_station_Track_1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312120","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Cortlandt_Park%E2%80%93242nd_Street_station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2631124"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/the-bronx/242nd-street-van-cortlandt-park-station-irt-05000226/"}