Country Life Press station

40°43′16″N 73°37′46″W / 40.721234°N 73.629405°W / 40.721234; -73.629405Owned byLong Island Rail RoadLine(s)Hempstead BranchDistance19.0 mi (30.6 km) from Long Island City^[1]Platforms1 side platformTracks1ConstructionParkingYesAccessibleYesOther informationFare zone4HistoryOpened1911ElectrifiedMay 26, 1908^[2]
750 V (DC) third railPassengers20061,236^[3] Services

Preceding station	Long Island Rail Road			Following station
Garden City toward Penn Station, Grand Central or Atlantic Terminal		Hempstead Branch		Hempstead Terminus

Former services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station West Hempstead toward Valley Stream West Hempstead Branch Stewart Avenue toward Mineola

Location

The Country Life Press station is a Long Island Rail Road within the village of Garden City, New York. It serves trains on the Hempstead Branch and is located on Damson Street and St. James Street South.

History

The station was originally opened in 1911 for the sole purpose of serving the book publisher Doubleday, Page & Company, which had moved in 1910 from Manhattan to Garden City, where co-founder and vice-president Walter Hines Page lived. It is named for the publisher's "Country Life Press" that was located across the tracks.^[4]

Country Life Press station has some former rights-of-way that led to the West Hempstead and the Oyster Bay Branches.^[5] It also included the remnants of the Central Branch of the Long Island Rail Road that terminated near Nassau Coliseum.

In 2022, the Long Island Rail Road announced plans to demolish the station house, which had fallen into a state of disrepair, and replacing it with a landscaped plaza.^[6][7][8] That December, the Village of Garden City's officials, through a 7-1 vote, opted through resolution not to attempt saving the structure, given safety concerns – many of which were raised by members of the community – and the poor state of the structure.^[8]

Station layout

The station has one 10-car-long side platform located on the east side of the single track. A pedestrian underpass provides access between the west and east sides of the track, and connects the west side with the station platform.

Side platform, doors will open on the left or right
Track 1	←      Hempstead Branch toward Jamaica, Atlantic Terminal, or Penn Station (Garden City) ←      Hempstead Branch toward Hempstead (Terminus) →

References

External links

Media related to Country Life Press (LIRR station) at Wikimedia Commons

• Country Life Press – LIRR
• Country Life Press LIRR timetable
• Country Life Press Station History (Arrt's Arrchives)
• St. James Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Digitzed copies of books on the Country Life Press and books published by the facility at Internet Archive
• GARDEN Interlocking (The LIRR Today)
• Platform from Google Maps Street View