The Allenwood Train Station

The Allenwood Train Station

Located at 80 Railroad Street, Allenwood Pa

The station, built in 1867,  still stands today.

 According to the Lewisburg Journal in 1900, Allenwood Station was so named while the town itself was still known as Uniontown.  The station still stands today, now privately owned.

"When the Reading railroad was built, the company, finding him [Herman Piatt Allen] the leading citizen of the town, determined to name the station Allenwood, and the Post Office Department at Washington soon followed suit and changed the name of the post office from Uniontown to Allenwood."

The Lewisburg Journal, February 9th 1900

A 2011 history of Uniontown states that the station was first known as Cairo, and that the town was at one time named Slifer, as well.

George J. Higgins, agent,  arrived at Allenwood on the No. 5 Train, October 21st 1888.  He recalled that Martin Kelley was the conductor.  Higgins remained at Allenwood until December 8th 1888.  In 1929, when honored by the Reading Club, he spoke of his time at Allenwood Station:

When I became agent at Allenwood It was very lonesome to me lor the first two or three days until I made the acquaintance of nearly every business man in the little community and its surroundings. I also became acquainted with our esteemed friend, Sam Phillips, who was then agent at Montgomery and the late Danny Powers, who was then agent at White Deer.  

Also in the course of a few days It was my great pleasure to have my dear good friend, who Is now past and gone, Mrs. Fisher, mother of our esteemed general superintendent, called and made herself acquainted with me, telling me that she was the mother of Victor Fisher, a dispatcher In "D" office, Shamokin. I was delighted to talk with her and asked her if she would not be glad to hear from Victor. I called Victor on the wire and carried on a conversation between the mother and son for quite a little while and I want to tell you that this occurred very frequently 

In the evenings during my stay at Allenwood and was Indeed a very great pleasure. Again while at Allenwood, when the business people learned that I was leaving them for Locust Gap, 16 of them headed by Anthony Armstrong, H. P. Allen and Mr. Meek, of Galloway and Meek, waited for me at the station and asked if I would have any objections to their going to Williamsport to see Mr. Lawler and induce him to keep me at Allenwood. I told them I would be very pleased and that if they did not succeed It would at least make me appear alright in the eyes of the superintendent.  They went Williamsport but could not induce Mr. Lawler to raise my wages there and since they said I pleased them so well, he did not think it was right to keep me back and promised them a man Just as good as I was and he kept the promise by sending them Irvin Reber, now deceased and when Mr. Reber was transferred to Winfield from Allenwood his place was filled by the present agent, Mr. Campbell. And where can you find on the Reading system a nicer or better agent than our friend Campbell.

 There are many other things that I could say about the general superintendent but I am afraid, my time will not permit this."

Reber transferred from Allenwood to Winfield, Mr Sandel of West Milton takes over at the Allenwood Station.  June 1899

Train Crash at Allenwood, October 23  1892

Allenwood Station Robbed

Thursday November 26th, 1903

Murrel Hafer, agent and night operator at Reading Station in Allenwood, was accosted by an armed masked man.

The robber chloroformed an old man named Jamison, who was sleeping on a bench at the station.  He then walked Hafer into the ticked office and made him open the keys of the telegraphic instrument.

The robber then struck Hafer in the face and threw him to the flood, where he chloroformed him as well.

The safe was opened, and a tin box with about $21 was taken out.  All the tickets were torn up and thrown about the floor.

One of the crews who had stopped for orders found Hafer and revived him.  He found his pocketbook was mising, but it was located dropped outside of the building, with six dollars silver money still inside.  It's thought that the robber had been scared off and had dropped it in his escape.

This event was one of a string of railroad robberies in the fall of 1903.  That same evening, the operator at Browns Tower near Jersey Shore was robbed and murdered.

Tragic Accident, 1906

December 28th 1906

54 year old William D. Else, employee of the Reading Railroad at Allenwood, was killed by a fast moving freight train. Else had been standing on the track watching another train approach, and he did not notice the approach of the one which killed him.

A.D. Campbell & B.F. Delaney at Allenwood Station, 1916

On March 23 1932, T. E. Weidensaul was injured when struck by a bundle of papers thrown form a passenger train at Allenwood station.  [Lewisburg Journal June 2 1932]

In 1981, the township supervisors were looking into the possibility of using the old Reading station as the Allenwood Township building.

The station is now privately owned. The rails are torn up just a few hundred feet past the station.

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There is also an Allenwood Station on the PRR in New Jersey