Hanover Junction, Pennsylvania

There a very small little Pennsylvania town southwest of York known as Hanover Junction. If you were to go there today, you would not see much but the old train station, but it is an old train station with much history.

The town got its name from being at the spot where the Hanover Branch Railroad connected to the Northern Central Railroad. Of course, there are many places where two railroads came together, but it was here where 11,000 wounded soldiers from the Battle of Gettysburg were brought to be transferred to hospitals in Baltimore, York, and Harrisburg. It was also a place where Abraham Lincoln passed through twice: first on the trip to Gettysburg to deliver his famous Gettysburg Address and for the second time on his funeral train. The railroad made this town a major place of industry. When the railroad decline, so did the town. Both rail lines were eventually abandoned.

Today, the train station is still there. The tracks that were part of the Hanover Branch Railroad are gone with a short stretch that connects with the once Northern Central Railroad Line which is now owned by the York County Parks of York County, Pennsylvania. The depot is currently a museum (also operated by York County Parks) and is also a rest stop for those who use the York County Rail Heritage Trail which runs along the Pennsylvania section of the former Northern Central Railroad line. You can also see the garden that was erected in honor of Abraham Lincoln of which a bust of him rests in the middle. You can go there by train from the New Freedom Depot in New Freedom, Pennsylvania (https://www.northerncentralrailway.com/), but if you choose to drive to the old station, you can access the station from Pennsylvania Route 616. It is accessible from Interstate 83 by way of Pennsylvania Route 214 to Glen Rock.