Formal Recognition Type
Registered Heritage Structure
Heritage Value
The Avondale Railway Station was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1988 because of its historic and aesthetic value.
The exact date that the Avondale Railway Station was constructed is unknown. It is believed that in the early 1860s a telegraph repeater station was built near the site of the Avondale Railway Station, and that the present Station building was built later and a little ways down from the repeater station. It could be possible that the repeater station was owned by the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, whose assets were taken over by the Anglo-American Telegraph Company after the former company’s failed attempt to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable in 1865. It is possible that the Avondale Railway Station was built as a telegraph station (by either of the two companies) and later converted to a railway station, as its design differs from other contemporaneous railway stations. Based on its Second Empire style, it could have been built by “J. & J.T. Southcott, Architects, Carpenters and Builders” – who constructed many buildings for the Anglo-American Telegraph Company. However, the massing of the building, the placement of dormers and windows, and the lack of symmetry on the exterior may suggest that it was a vernacular build meant to copy Southcott projects.
By 1883 the Newfoundland Railway Company had completed a rail line to Avondale and trains were running frequently to the community. If the station building had not previously existed, it could have been built during the early to mid 1880s to accommodate expanded rail traffic to the community. If it was built following the completion of the Conception Bay branch line, it shows a departure from the style of stations built by the Newfoundland Railway Company (and later Reid Newfoundland Company) in other communities along the line. In 1898 the Reid Newfoundland Company was contracted to take over existing rail lines in Newfoundland, which would include infrastructure at Avondale. The contract allowed them to operate the railway for 50 years, after which time ownership would switch to the Reid Newfoundland Company. The contract with Reid Newfoundland Company included operating the government telegraph for 50 years. Some people who worked for the railway in Avondale also worked as telegraphers, which points to the telegraph station being located in the railway station. Late 19th and early 20th century records show that telegraph operator and post office operator positions were often managed by the same individual. This allows the assumption that both departments were within the same building, i.e. the train station, by at least 1911.
In 1923, the Railway Settlement Act resulted in the Newfoundland government acquiring the railway from the Reid Newfoundland Company for $2 million. The Avondale Railway Station then became a part of the government-run Newfoundland Railway. The Canadian National Railway took over the Newfoundland Railway in 1949 when Newfoundland joined Canada. The Avondale Railway Station was managed by CN until 1984, when the branch line serving Conception Bay was closed. Tracks in the area were torn up in 1984, which caused much discontent in the community. The Avondale Heritage Foundation applied to keep a section of the track next to the railway station and, following a protest against tearing up the tracks, they came to an agreement to officially keep a small section intact. The Avondale Railway Station Museum opened in August of 1990.
The Avondale Railway Station has many character defining architectural features. Some that speak to its use as a railway station include the exterior painted in the colours of the Reid Newfoundland Company (i.e. green and yellow), the positioning of the windows and the door on the front facade, the overhang on the front facade, the warehouse (built in 1900) and platform, and the location of the building relative to the railway bed. Some features that are reflective of the Second Empire style include its mansard roof, wooden roof shingles, dormer windows, bay window, pronounced roof and eave trims, narrow wooden clapboard, and its two storey massing.
Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Avondale – Avondale Railway Station – FPT 1422”
Character Defining Elements
All those architectural features reflective of Second Empire style, including:
-number of storeys;
-mansard roof;
-wooden shingles on roof;
-roof and eaves trim;
-return on eaves;
-narrow wooden clapboard;
-wooden corner boards;
-size, style, trim and placement of dormers;
-size, style, trim and placement of bay window;
-size, style, trim and placement of wooden windows;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors;
-dimension, location and orientation of building.
Those relating to its use as a railway station, including:
-Reid Newfoundland Company colours on exterior (yellow and green);
-positioning of windows and door on front facade;
-overhang on front facade;
-size, style and location of warehouse and platform;
-location of building adjacent to and oriented toward railway bed.
Google map
Avondale Railway Station Museum Facebook Page
