By ARCHIE MOUNTAIN
NEWPORT — It isn’t every day that someone has a railroad station to give away, especially one that is 121 years old and still in sturdy condition at first glance.
However, that’s exactly what is happening in Newport.
At the Newport School Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 27, Superintendent of Schools Cindy Gallagher said Bar Harbor Bank & Trust has offered to donate the property to the Newport School District.
“We have to decide if it is really an asset,” Gallagher told four members of the school board present at the meeting. “We have to determine the feasibility of the building,” Gallagher continued.
She said Newport Fire Chief Wayne Conroy would be asked to inspect the building that will include a walk through and determine if it is ADA compliant.
The building, located in the center of Downtown Newport, was once a busy place, especially when it was a stop for Boston and Maine Railroad passenger trains connecting Claremont and Concord.
The B&M trains passed slowly across Newport’s Main Street each day on their way to Concord.
It was convenient for Newport shoppers, especially at Christmas time. They could take the morning train to Claremont, do some Christmas shopping at Pleasant Street stores, enjoy a lunch at JJ Newbury or Woolworth’s and hop the afternoon train back to Newport.
In those days, Claremont was referred to as the Shopping Center of the Twin State Valley and a Claremont police officer was stationed at the intersection of Pleasant Street and Tremont Square directing traffic, especially on Friday nights when stores remained open until 9 p.m.
The most recent occupant of the old Newport railroad station was a day care center. Looking through a window, one can spot a small kitchen with walls dividing up much of the remaining space.
A plaque attached to the outside of the old station lists the property as the Boston and Maine Passenger Depot with a date of 1897.
The building has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior as part of the Downtown National Historic District.
The property is currently assessed for $211,200 , according to the Town of Newport Tax Department. Records in that office indicate the owner, for tax purposes, is still the Lake Sunapee Bank Group.
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