Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk) National Historic Site of Canada
Prescott, Ontario
General view
(© Agence Parcs Canada/Parks Canada Agency, 1990.)
Address :
820 St. Lawrence Street, Prescott, Ontario
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1973-06-11
Dates:
-
1855 to 1855
(Construction)
-
1852 to 1855
(Significant)
Event, Person, Organization:
-
Grand Trunk Railway
(Organization)
-
Francis Thompson
(Architect)
Other Name(s):
-
Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk)
(Designation Name)
-
Prescott CNR Station
(Other Name)
-
Prescott VIA Station
(Other Name)
-
Grand Trunk Railway - Prescott
(Plaque name)
Research Report Number:
RSR-088
Plaque(s)
The Grand Trunk was incorporated in 1853 to run from Sarnia to Portland, Maine. Although it took over existing lines, new ones had to be built, including sections of the key Toronto to Montreal line completed by the noted English engineering firm of Peto, Brassey, Jackson and Betts in 1856. The Prescott station, built about 1855, is a typical example of the smaller stations erected by this firm for the Grand Trunk Railway. Influenced by English designs, the station is an enduring monument to early Canadian railway enterprise.
Description of Historic Place
Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk) National Historic Site is a small, stone station building situated beside CNR tracks at the base of a small ridge at the end of St. Lawrence St. in Prescott.
Heritage Value
Prescott Railway Station (Grand Trunk) was designated a national historic site in 1973 because: it is a typical example of the smaller stations erected for the Grand Trunk Railway, influenced by English designs, the station is an enduring monument to early Canadian railway enterprise.
The heritage value of this site resides in its physical illustration of a 'First Class A Type' standard station design for the Grand Trunk Railway on the Montreal-Brockville line in the mid 19th-century.
Prescott's Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) station was built in 1855 during the first construction period of the GTR line between Montreal and Brockville (1852-1855). It was a standard design for small stations prepared for the new line by English architect Francis Thompson.
Sources: HSMBC Minutes, June 1973, November 1974, May 1979, February 1992, November 1992.
Character-Defining Elements
Key features contributing to the heritage value of this site include:
the rectangular massing, the end-gabled pitched roof with balanced pairs of chimneys at each end, the regular articulation of its seven-bay main facades, and identical two-bay end facades, the Italianate features of its design including simple arched openings, prominent voussoirs and edge quoining, and heavy eave returns, the rock-faced grey ashlar limestone exterior walls, the station's siting beside train tracks at the end of an urban street.