N.H. Town to Restore 1867 Depot
By Margaret Foster | From Preservation | Feb. 12, 2007
A grassroots group urged town officials to restore the depot,
which will be stripped of its 1915 addition.
Credit: Salem Depot Restoration Grou
When bikers zoom past Salem, N.H., on a rails-to-trails path next year, they'll see a newly restored train station, the last of four depots left on the former train line.
Right now the Salem Depot, built in 1867, is a fixer-upper that the town has decided to restore. The town owns the 1,572-square-foot downtown building, which it leased as offices until last year.
"It's a piece of property that's very important to Salem's history," says Beverly Glynn, chair of the town's historic district commission. "It's what that whole area is named after: Salem Depot."
At a Jan. 30 meeting, the town's board of selectmen and the Salem Depot Restoration Group agreed to demolish a 1915 addition to the original building. The depot needs a new roof, siding, windows, and doors, Glynn says.
The volunteer group that pushed for the work is trying to raise money for the project.
"I would love to see it as an information area or some kind of town building," says Dianne Paquette, president of the Salem Depot Restoration Group. "Public bathrooms, an ice cream shop—there's a lot of things you can do for the rail trail. It's a building that needs to support itself. It hasn't supported itself for 150 years."
Construction of Windham Rail Trail, which stretches from Salem, N.H., to Derry—and possibly to Concord—is under way. The trail's first 4.1-mile paved section, in Windham, N.H., opened in September 2006.
Before the Salem Depot restoration can begin, the town has more research to do.
"We're looking for pictures of how the depots used to look on the inside," Glynn says. "We're having a lot of trouble."
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