White House Station is located on NJT's (New Jersey Transit) Raritan Valley Line (RVL) at MP 44.2. On August 5th, 1972, CNJ freight BJ-4 is east bound and approaching the Main Street grade crossing in town. Judging from what can be seen of the station, it certainly seems to have seen better days!
Fast forward to May 30. 2014 when NJT's 5170 is making a scheduled station stop before continuing its "one-seat" trip into New York at 9:32. Seven passengers would be boarding here.
The White House Station seems a far cry from when the CNJ was traveling these rails. A plaque on the station's wall facing the track gives a brief history about this station. It states "...the CNJ, also enjoying a period of prosperity, commissioned noted architect Bradford L. Gilbert to design a new station. Gilbert chose a popular Victorian style, Richardson Romanesque, which is characterized by a heavy, rough-cut stone exterior, broad roof planes, deeply recessed arched window and door openings and the use of a variety of shapes and forms, such as a polygonal porch on the front of the building. Through citizen initiative and the New Jersey Transit Leasing Station Program, the station was restored to its original grandeur. On December 7, 1981, after seven months of dedicated community effort, White House Station opened its doors as Readington Township's first public library. White House Station was listed on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 1984."
The library has a framed copy of a local newspaper's article telling the story of the station that makes for interesting reading. There are also some black and white photographs of the station and CNJ steam engines.
Walking around the building, there is also a US Coast & Geodetic Survey
Benchmark inserted into the building's stone wall. A benchmark is generally
applied to any item used to mark a point as an elevation reference. I consider
this rather unique since this is the first benchmark I have seen embedded in a
building's wall.
