P&LE Union Station

Landmarks SGA was retained to develop a site plan and construction documents for the former P&LE and the Western Maryland Railroad Union Passenger Station site after the property was purchased by Somerset Trust Company to serve as the location of their Connellsville branch. The station was constructed in 1912 to serve passengers where the P&LE and the Western Maryland Railroads linked up in Connellsville. Two buildings are presently located on the site, the historic Union Passenger Station and a small one-story concrete masonry building in which the bank branch is now located. The historic station has a rock-faced coursed ashlar sandstone base upon which rise walls of red brick that complement the warm red tones of the sandstone also used in the window sills, lintels, and steps. A station tower hearkens to early rail depot designs. The Union Passenger Station was rather unique in that the passengers had to ascend through the tower to reach the elevated tracks; the door at the top of the station tower now leads nowhere, as the elevated tracks were removed in 1994. After the station closed to passenger traffic in 1939, it was used almost continuously for offices or retail. Landmarks SGA assisted Somerset Trust in developing a design to adaptively repurpose the site for a bank branch and restore the historic train station structure and contributing site elements. The site improvements and bank branch were completed in 2014 and construction is underway for the restoration of the historic Station building.