Lehigh Valley Railroad Station
Why it's listed
Two railroad buildings on Ithaca's waterfront make up the Lehigh Valley Railroad complex: a passenger station completed in 1898 and a frame freight station standing about a hundred feet to the northeast. The passenger station is a massive square colonial revival building with Romanesque feeling, built of tan-yellow brick on a rough-faced stone base, with a pedimented porte-cochere and a street clock on a Corinthian column. It was built to handle heavy passenger, express and mail traffic, and it capped nearly three-quarters of a century of railroading in Ithaca, including the consolidation that followed the Panic of 1873. Excursion and through trains made it a popular local gathering place. The last passenger train left in 1961, and the building became a restaurant in 1966, with railroad cars used as dining rooms. The freight station, a long gray frame building with a station-master's lookout, was in poor condition at the time of nomination and was seen as adaptable to recreational use.
Significance in brief: The 1898 station was built for a large passenger, express and heavy mail operation. It marked the culmination of nearly seventy-five years of railroading in Ithaca and the era of consolidation in which the Lehigh Valley Railroad played a key role. The depot also figured in the popular culture of twentieth-century Ithaca life, and the nomination notes its successful adaptive use as a restaurant.
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 74001311, listed December 31, 1974. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | W. Buffalo St. and Taughannock Blvd., Ithaca |
|---|---|
| County | Tompkins County |
| Listed | December 31, 1974 |
| Reference number | 74001311 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 19th Century (specific date 1898) |
| Architectural style | Colonial revival with Romanesque feeling |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Transportation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The passenger station operates as a restaurant (opened 1966) after the last passenger train left in 1961. The freight station is described as deteriorating and used mostly for storage. |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Coordinates | 42.44131, -76.51098 (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 74001311.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6518860
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.