THE END OF TEFFT'S DEPOT

During the planning and construction of a new Union Station a consolidation of Providence's railroads took place. The New York, Providence & Boston leased the Providence & Worcester in 1888 and in 1892 both became part of the New York, New Haven & Hartford. The Old Colony leased the Boston & Providence in 1888 and the Providence, Warren & Bristol in 1891 and all three became part of the New Haven in 1893. The Hartford, Providence & Fiskill became the Boston, Hartford & Erie and the New York & New England. The NY&NE, which acquired the Providence & Springfield in 1890, came under the control of the New Haven in 1895. When the new station was completed the New Haven was Providence's only railroad and therefore the station was a union station only in the legal sense that separate railroads existed as corporate entities. Nevertheless, the people of Providence continued to call the new depot Union Station.

AGREEMENT

In 1890 all parties agreed to a plan prepared by railroad engineers S.L.Minot and E.P. Dawley. The plan successfully overcame differences between the city and the railroads and incorporated the good features of earlier plans while omitting bad ones. It called for an elevated through station located close to the old depot using land claimed from the cove. A sloping landscaped park before the station and wide roadways under the structure avoided a chinese wall appearence while eliminating grade crossings. Also, the station was close to the center of the city and encouraged nearby residents to continue using the train for work, shopping or entertainment. An enabling act was passed by the Rhode Island Legislature in March 1890 and that summer work began on filling the cove and channeling the rivers between walls.

Work to channel the Woonasquatucket River and fill the Cove began in 1890. The location of the old P&W and B&P engine facilities can be seen over the P&W freight house. Smith's Hill (right) will be the site of the State House

A tiny construction locomotive is at work (left center) filling in the Cove. Most of the Cove would be covered with team yards for freight shipments.

In this photograph taken around the same time as the view above floating equipment can be seen dredging the channel for the Woonasquatucket River. The channel walls would rest on spruce piles and hemlock timbers: some of the 40 foot piles can be seen floating.

View from a little to the left of the view above showing the Woonasquatucket River channel under construction.

FIRE

During the early morning of February 21, 1896 the Tefft Union Station was destoyed by a fire which started in a second floor bedroom occupied by a restaurant worker. By the time fireman arrived from a nearby firehouse the entire length of the building was in flames. Four alarms were sounded calling to the conflagration all the fire fighting apparatus of Providence. The fire was under control in less than two hours and while the building's interior was gone the brick walls stayed upright. The area was covered with ice from the thousands of gallons of water poured on the building in the frigid cold. An occupied Pullman car was at the station but was pushed to safety with its sleeping passengers unaware of the danger.

The fire was attributed to overheated pipes. The two boilers that heated the building had heating pipes rising through the floor. The pipes became too hot and ignited the old, dry woodwork. The flames crept through the floors and covered some distance before burning through and gaining the attention of the night watchman. The new Union Station was still under construction and temporary arrangements had to be used for two years. The fire did not prevent trains from running through the area even on the day of the fire.

Union Station the day after the midnight fire February 21, 1896

Aftermath of the fire of February 21, 1896. Note the bridgework for the new station (top right) which is stll over two years away from opening.

New York, New Haven & Hartford 419 is at the west end of the Tefft Union Station after the fire. The locomotive is an A-1 class 4-4-0 type built by Schenectady in 1896.

Not all was lost in the fire; read the notation on the left. This is a small section of a vellum tracing made in 1907 of a blueprint that was at the Union Station during the fire but was only damaged in one corner.