Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Building, Transportation

Location

5704 Telephone Rd, Cincinnatus, NY 13040, USA

Lat/Long

42.541714, -75.89961

Grant Recipient

Cincinnatus Area Heritage Society

In 1898, the first railroad depot was established in the town of Cincinnatus, in Cortland County, New York by the Erie & Central New York Railroad. The May 3, 1898 Cortland Standard reported on its opening:

Cincinnatus now has a railroad. The long looked for event, the opening of the Erie & Central New York railroad to Cincinnatus was celebrated Thursday in the bustling little town in the eastern part of the county. … When the first train in the morning rolled up to the new station in Cincinnatus, it was greeted with the booming of cannon, blowing of whistles and ringing of bells.

The railroad ran approximately 19 miles from Cortland to Cincinnatus. In 1903, it was sold to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, and the line was then operated in connection with the Binghamton & Syracuse division of the railroad. By 1906, plans for a new depot in Cincinnatus were under consideration by the railroad company (Cincinnatus Times, October 4, 1906; Cincinnatus Times, December 13, 1906). The following year, the new depot was constructed on the site of the first depot, which had been sold, relocated to West Main Street, and converted into the West Side Grocery store by local residents A.B. Brown and J.H. Nourse (Cincinnatus Times, October 24, 1907; Cincinnatus Times, December 12, 1907). In February 1909, the West Side Grocery store was sold to Lewis Billings, who then moved the building again to its present location along the river (Cincinnatus Times, February 11, 1909; Cortland Democrat, February 19, 1909; Cincinnatus Times, April 8, 1909).

As of 2025, the first railroad depot in Cincinnatus stands as a reminder of the start of railway transportation to the community and the subsequent boon to the economy and growth of the surrounding area.