East Hampton Railroad Station
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Built in 1895 when the Long Island Rail Road extended its line from Bridgehampton to Montauk, this one-story brick station served East Hampton's growing summer colony. It contains a waiting room and station agent's office, and its most notable feature is a wide-eaved hip roof that flows into gabled canopies carried by turned posts, brackets and bowed struts. The building measures 42 by 22 feet, with canopies bringing its length to 108 feet. Inside, the original paneling, ticket window, agent's office and benches survive. The station is listed because the railroad made the village far more accessible, and about fifty summer cottages date from the decade after its arrival, compared with roughly twenty in the decade before. It also represents a typical rural station design used on the railroad for about fifteen years. Identical stations at Amagansett, Edgemere and Farmingdale were built in 1895, but this is the only one still intact. The station continues in rail use.
Significance in brief: The station recalls how the arrival of the railroad in 1895 helped East Hampton grow into a premier summer resort. It is also an intact example of a typical turn-of-the-century rural Long Island Rail Road station with a hip roof and integral canopies. It is the only one of four identical 1895 stations to remain intact.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 00000581, listed June 2, 2000. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Railroad Ave., between Race and Newtown Lns., East Hampton |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk County |
| Listed | June 2, 2000 |
| Reference number | 00000581 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1895 |
| Architect / builder | Builder: Woodruff, Long Island City, NY |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian; Other: Railroad Station |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Remains in use by the Long Island Rail Road; retains good integrity, with some changes such as ca. 1988 replacement doors and a partition dividing off a bathroom and utility room. |
| Acreage | 1.7 |
| Coordinates | 40.96686, -72.19281 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 00000581.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5328539
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.