Woods Hole station
railway station in the United States of America
Woods Hole station was a station on the Old Colony Railroad located in the village of Woods Hole in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts. It served as the terminus for the railroad's branch line to Woods Hole and offered ferry connections to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.
History
The original wooden station was built at the end of the Woods Hole Branch of the Old Colony Railroad in 1872. The Woods Hole Branch opened on July 17, 1872. The station was located close to docks where passengers could board ferries to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, so it served as a transfer station for vacationers traveling to the islands. In 1893, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad leased the Old Colony Railroad and took over operations on the line. In 1899, the station building was replaced by a brick structure. Into the early 1960s the New Haven operated daily trains to Boston and seasonal trains such as the day and night versions of the Cape Codder to New York City.
In 1964, passenger rail service to Woods Hole ceased, and the station closed. The tracks were torn up in 1969, and the station building was demolished in 1970.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Woods Hole station” as railway station in the United States of America. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as railway station in the United States of America. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8033271. Authority coordinates are 41.523, -70.669. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1872, 1893, 1899 and 1964.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Woods Hole station”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Woods Hole station primary sources, Woods Hole station archive and Woods research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Woods Hole station”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Woods Hole station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.