Historic Ardsley Train Station (on "the Put" Line)

In 1880, the arrival of passenger rail service to Ardsley, NY, helped to transform this Westchester County village from a farming community into a residential community. The Ardsley Train Station was where residents boarded commuter trains to travel to their jobs in New York City. Before the arrival of passenger rail service, there was no quick and easy way to travel to New York City from Ardsley; the train changed all of this and in doing so played a role in shaping the village into what it is today. The Ardsley Train Station was located immediately west of the entrance to the South County Trailway (the old railbed of “the Put”) on Elm Street. In 1949, the station was relocated northward to the east side of the tracks to make way for the Ashford Avenue Bridge piers and the Saw Mill River Parkway ramp. In 1955, the Ardsley Train Station was demolished with the completion of construction of the New York State Thruway.

One hundred and forty years ago, the area that is now known as the Village of Ardsley looked very different from how it looks today. Back then it was known as the hamlet of Ashford and it was predominantly farmland. The population in 1880 was less than 400 people while the 2020 census was above 5,000 people.

The most significant event that helped transform the Village of Ardsley from a farming community to a residential community was the arrival of passenger railroad service in December, 1880. This allowed people to live in Ardsley and commute to their jobs in New York City. The first train station was known as Ashford. In 1883 the station name was changed to Ardsley after Cyrus Field (of transatlantic cable fame) helped the residents obtain their own post office in exchange for renaming the hamlet Ardsley, Field’s ancestral town in England. Originally the train line was part of the New York City and Northern Railroad. In 1894 it was absorbed by the Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad and was thereafter affectionately known as “the Put.” Passenger service on the Put ended with the last passenger train on May 29, 1958 although freight service continued until 1982.

The Ardsley train station was originally located immediately west of the entrance to the South County Trailway on Elm Street. The trailway is the old railbed of the Put. On November 7, 1949 the station was relocated northward to the east side of the tracks to make way for the Ashford Avenue Bridge piers and the Saw Mill River Parkway ramp. The station was later demolished with the completion of construction of the NY State Thruway in December, 1955.

--Text courtesy of Pete Marcus (Ardsley Historical Society)

1. "Ardsley Population Growth (1900-2016)." Village of Ardsley Comprehensive Plan 2020: 3-3.
2. Arone, Patricia B. & Fred N. Pictures of the Past: Ardsley, N.Y. Dobbs Ferry, NY, 1986: 47, 50, 56.
3. "Fares." New York Central Lines–1923: 65.
4. "The County." The Yonkers Statesman, July 22, 1884.
5. "The New Road to New York." Putnam County Standard, Dec. 3, 1880.