Depot earns historic status

AUGUSTA — The Canadian Pacific Railway Depot in Greenville Junction, Piscataquis County, has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places, according to Kirk F. Mohney, director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.

This designation indicates that the property has been documented, evaluated and considered worthy of preservation and protection as part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

The depot is a well preserved example of a type of railroad building that was once common in Maine. Erected in 1889 by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), the Queen Anne-style depot is located alongside the tracks of the CPR, which is now owned and operated by Central Maine and Quebec Railroad.

This depot once served as a junction between the Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad (B&P) and the CPR. The depot is locally significant under Criteria A, as a transportation facility associated with the Eastern Division of the CPR and for its association with social history regarding gender separation during the Victorian era. Both transportation and social history significance are associated with tourism and growth of the Greenville area.

The depot is also significant under Criteria C for its architecture, which embodies distinctive characteristics of the Queen Anne-style architecture and railroad building forms. The period of significance is 1889-1965, which is the time frame the depot was in use as a passenger depot.

Two significant dates within the period of significance are 1889, the date of construction, and 1911, the date that alterations were made to the building.