{"nrhp_refnum":"85001568","name":"Pennsylvania Railroad Station-Wilkinsburg","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Hay St. at Ross Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilkinsburg","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.443243464000034,"lon":-79.88773639199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-07-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A railroad passenger station at the foot of Ross Avenue on the western edge of Wilkinsburg's commercial district, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, built in 1916 by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. It is a buff brick and stone building in a restrained Beaux Arts style set on a triangular site beside the elevated railroad right-of-way.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the station is significant for its role in the Pennsylvania Railroad's Main Line transportation system and for its architectural design and prominent siting. It was built as part of a multi-million dollar grade crossing elimination project that ended accidents at town-center crossings. The building is presented as a product of the railroad age and City Beautiful ideals, and as an unusually monumental urban-scale station for a small town.","narrative":"Built in 1916 by the Pennsylvania Railroad, the station at the foot of Ross Avenue in Wilkinsburg is a buff brick and stone building in a restrained Beaux Arts style. Its symmetrical plan has a double-height central waiting room flanked by lower wings, with four engaged Ionic columns, a clock medallion above the entablature, and a marble-trimmed interior with a skylit ceiling. The station was part of a major project that raised the railroad grade between Swissvale and Homewood, allowing overpasses over three busy streets and ending deadly grade crossings in the town centre. The project was celebrated with a three-day community festival. The building is considered a rare small-town example of a monumental urban railroad station, and it was designed to face Ross Avenue as a civic focal point, later joined by a borough building and a post office. Station service ended in the late 1960s, and the building now anchors a transit busway linking to Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Station.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Pennsylvania Railroad Co./Walter H. Cookson","architectural_style":"Beaux Arts","criteria":[],"status_note":"Station operations ceased in the late 1960s; the building now marks the eastern terminus of a public transit busway, and the document describes it as in deteriorated condition.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.529513-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/85001568.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001568/cd4747cdba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001568/cd4747cdba-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"User:Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania_Railroad_Station_in_Wilkinsburg.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pennsylvania_Railroad_Station_in_Wilkinsburg.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998748","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilkinsburg_station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7164048"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/pennsylvania-railroad-station-wilkinsburg-85001568/"}