{"nrhp_refnum":"83004209","name":"Kirkland Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1370 Kirkland Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Whiteland","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":40.010641416000055,"lon":-75.60188716099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-11-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Kirkland Station is a two-story brick former railroad ticket and waiting station on Kirkland Avenue in West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, built on the West Chester Railroad line. It was built as a dwelling for its railroad agent as well as a ticket office.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the station is a rural railroad station built as a dwelling rather than a typical railroad station, which makes it architecturally distinctive. It is also tied to the West Chester Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad, and it is one of two stations remaining from the West Chester line, which is reputed to be among the first completed lines in the state.","narrative":"Kirkland Station is a two-story brick building with a full basement, built in the 1860-1879 period on the West Chester Railroad line in West Whiteland Township, Chester County. It was designed to hold a ticket office on the ground floor and to house the railroad agent's family, which made it unusual among rural stations. The Pennsylvania Railroad leased the line and improved it around 1880, straightening the track at Kirkland and moving the station closer to the new rails with a crew of railroad workers. A fire in 1894, caused by an overheated stove, damaged part of the building. Early in the twentieth century a small two-story wing was added at the rear, bringing the first floor to three rooms. The station is one of two surviving stations from the West Chester Railroad, a line reputed to be among the first completed in Pennsylvania. Its original construction reflects the expansion of the Pennsylvania Railroad at that time.","period_of_significance":"1860-1879","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Original use was transportation; present use is residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.348389-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83004209.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004209/8cd7294d6c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004209/8cd7294d6c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kirkland_Station_PA.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kirkland_Station_PA.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992761","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkland_station_(Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6415744"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/kirkland-station-83004209/"}