Sanborn is a hamlet in the towns on Cambria and Lewiston in Niagara County. It was a station on the Falls Road Branch of the New York Central Railroad.
History
Sanborn was bypassed by the original railroad through the area, the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, which was completed in 1838 between the two villages. This was sometimes called the “Strap Railroad” because it consisted of straps of iron on wooden rails. For the first year the line was operated by horse power which was quickly replaced by steam engines. The Lockport and Niagara Falls went through the village of Pekin, a little less than two miles to the north.
In 1851, the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad was sold to the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad, which redirected the tracks south through Sanborn. In 1853 the line came under the control of the New York Central Railroad where is was known as the Falls Branch or the Falls Road. The line was operated by the New York Central (1853 – 1968), the Penn Central Railroad (1968 – 1976), and Conrail (1976 – 1999). During the 1999 breakup of Conrail the line was assigned to CSX who operates the segment between Niagara Falls and Lockport.
I don’t have any photo of the station in Sanborn and don’t know much about it. An 1872 advertisement offered a store house with coal yard on a siding at the station in Sanborn. The March 30, 1887 issue of the Niagara Falls Gazette noted that “The Central depot at Sanborn is to be overhauled this spring.”
Clippings
Photographs
Maps
Timetables
Learn More
- Niagara History Center. “A major change came to Pekin in 1837..” post on their Facebook page.
- Wikipedia. “Lockport Subdivision“
- Wikipedia. “Sanborn, New York“