New Brunswick Station

In the mid-1800s New Brunswick had a big shipping industry, it was so successful in fact that it there was a need to transport goods quicker and cheaper. In 1835 the New Jersey Railroad between New Brunswick and Jersey City began. The line not only transported goods but people as well. Due to New Brunswick's prime location between New York and Philadelphia the official train station was opened in 1903 by the Pennsylvania Railroad. The station's Colonial-era architecture is a tribute to the city's role in the Revolutionary War. The escalator was not installed until 1954 and a fire broke out on the first floor in 1980 led to restoration the following year. Today the station's main line is the Northeast Corridor and on an average weekday transports 4,976 passengers. The station represents the city’s economic history because it was an important step New Brunswick took in modernizing the shipping industry.

Reading Between the Landscapes
Think about the negative and positive effects that new technologies have had and continue to have on different cities. What would New Brunswick be like today if it did not have a train station?