The U.S. state of Massachusetts is one of the New England states that makes up the northeastern region of the United States of America. The state began as one of the thirteen original British colonies and became a U.S. state when the United States of America won its independence from Great Britain. It was here at a place called Plymouth Rock on the shore of Cape Cod Bay where the Pilgrims landed after a long voyage from Holland, and it was here where what was called the First Thanksgiving took place. Even though it was not the actual First Thanksgiving as the actual one happened in the U.S. state of Virginia near the present day city of Richmond, it was the Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving that the holiday is modeled after as it involved a feast where as the in Virginia, it was a long prayer of thanking God for surviving a long and dangerous voyage across the ocean. Massachusetts played a big role in the American Revolution with the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Boston Tea Party, the famous ride of Paul Revere, and ‘the shot heard around the world’ at the Battle at Concord Bridge. (In case you are wondering, ‘the shot heard around the world’, was not a gunshot that was so loud that it was heard as far away as Antarctica but message that the United States of America was fighting for its independence.) Along with the American Revolution, the city of Boston, the state capital, is a big sports town. It is the home of the Boston Celtics, the most championed team in the National Basketball Association and the third most championed team in North American professional sports. (The Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League is number two and the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball are number one.) Also, you will find the Basketball Hall of Fame in the city of Springfield. The state is known for its geography with a long stretch of land known as Cape Cod and its islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, and the state has a few great lighthouses. In the town of Provincetown at the very end of the Cape Cod peninsula is where the eastern end of U.S. Route 6, a road known as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway which honors American Civil War Veterans and is the longest route in the United States of America, is located.
Yes, the state of Massachusetts is known for many things. When people think about the state, very few people will think about the railroads. The railroad sites are commonly overshadowed by its other historic sites. There is one particular place where the railroad once was.
If you visit the town of Chatham, Massachusetts, you will see a nice, charming town. Located on the southeast corner of the state, you will get great views of the Atlantic Ocean, on old windmill, a lighthouse that is still active and own by the United States Coast Guard, and an old train station.
Some of you are saying, “Wait a minute. There is no railroad on Cape Cod.”
Welcome to the Chatham Railroad Museum.
Some of you are saying, “Oh! I see. They found an old train station and brought it to this town to make it a museum.”
Actually, you are wrong. The old train station, built in 1887 in what is called a Railroad Gothic style, is on its original site. On what was originally the trackside is a wooden caboose from the New York Central System. The town was the end of the line for the Chatham Railroad Company that ran between the town of Chatham and the town of Harwich. There was also a railroad yard in Chatham. As tourism in Chatham grew, so did the railroad. As the roads on Cape Cod improved, the railroad declined. Service to Chatham ended in 1937.
Today, very little evidence of the railroad remaining in Cape Cod with very few of the old railroad beds are now rail trails. As for the old train station, it later became the home of the Chatham Railroad Museum.
Some of you are saying, “Oh yeah, and it has somebody’s old train collection.”
Well, if you had two New York Central System model locomotives that were on display at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, you can say that it is a great collection. The exhibits display the history of the railroad to Chatham and the stations along the short railroad.
The Chatham Railroad Museum is located at 153 Depot Road in Chatham, Massachusetts, just off of Massachusetts Route 28. It is open from June to October. Admission is free, but they can use your donations to keep the museum open. The museum is staffed by volunteers with no paid staff. Although the train station is wheelchair accessible, the caboose is not. You can read more into the history of the Chatham Train Station and get information on hours and directions at https://www.chathamrailroadmuseum.com/.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts is a state full of American history, a state of sports history, a state of natural beauty, historic sites, and an old railroad town called Chatham. It is a town where you can enjoy a lobster roll with a little railroad history.
John Cowgill: Stories of the Railroad 