{"nrhp_refnum":"90001609","name":"Elkins Railroad Station, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad","other_names":["Elkins Park Station","Ashbourne Station"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Spring and Park Aves., Cheltenham Township","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elkins Park","county":"Montgomery County","state":"PA","lat":40.07115354100006,"lon":-75.12791240599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-10-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A railroad passenger station on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad line in Elkins Park, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with a separate commuter platform shelter. It was designed by Cope and Stewardson and built in 1898 in the Ogontz Park development.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the station is significant as a work of Cope and Stewardson, a leading late nineteenth-century Philadelphia firm, and as the centerpiece of the suburban development of Ogontz Park, later Elkins Park. It also holds significance as a gift from developer William Elkins, who offered it to the railroad to serve his project. Its design, with a broad low roof and schist and limestone construction, is presented as an early and unusual example of the suburban station type.","narrative":"Built in 1898 on the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad line in the Ogontz Park suburb north of Philadelphia, the station was designed by the firm Cope and Stewardson. It stands on a raised man-made hill and is built of local grey schist with dressed limestone trim, the same materials used in the surrounding mansions. A broad, shallow slate roof extends over a sheltered walkway around the building, and a stone tower rises above an octagonal station master's bay. The interior main waiting room has a great fireplace, dark wainscot, and an open trussed ceiling. William Elkins, the suburb's chief developer, offered to build the station to attract the railroad to his project. The building is valued for its architecture and for its connection to Elkins's development. It remains in continuous use, although the main waiting room has since been converted into an office.","period_of_significance":"1898-1940","architect_builder":"Cope, Stewardson, and Company (architects)","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Continues in use as a station; the main waiting room has been converted to an office, and the Ladies' Waiting room now serves as the station waiting room.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:38.034519-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/90001609.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001609/69c019f9e3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001609/69c019f9e3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Marvin","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ElkinsParkStation.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Marvin</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ElkinsParkStation.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995437","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkins_Park_station","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5364335"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/montgomery-county/elkins-railroad-station-philadelphia-and-reading-railroad-90001609/"}