View source for High Bridge station

{{Short description|NJ Transit rail station}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Not to be confused with|Highbridge Facility}}
{{Infobox Station
| name               = High Bridge
| style              = NJ Transit
| image              = High Bridge station - March 2017.jpg
| image_caption      = High Bridge station with the [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] depot on the right in March 2017
| address            = Central Avenue and Bridge Street,<br>[[High Bridge, New Jersey]] 08829
| coordinates        = {{coord|40.6667|-74.8960|type:railwaystation_region:US-NJ|display=inline,title}}
| line               = Raritan Valley Line
| distance           = {{convert|52.2|mi}} from [[Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal|Jersey City]]<ref name="njt-physical">{{cite book | title=NJ Transit Rail Operations: Physical Characteristics | date=2005 | last=NJ Transit | pages=117–119; 142b; 173–182}}</ref>
| other              = 
| structure          = 
| platform           = 1 [[side platform]]
| depth              = 
| levels             = 
| tracks             = 1
| parking            = Yes<ref name="Station Info">{{cite web |title=High Bridge Station |url=https://www.njtransit.com/rg/rg_servlet.srv?hdnPageAction=TrainStationLookupFrom&selStation=60 |website=njtransit.com |publisher=New Jersey Transit |access-date=August 14, 2019}}</ref>
| bicycle            = Yes<ref name="Station Info"/>
| passengers         = 42 (average weekday)<ref name="ridership">{{cite report|url=https://archive.org/details/njt-boarding-data-q-1-2025-1|title=Average Weekday Rail Station Passenger Boardings History, FY 2019&ndash;2025|publisher=[[NJ Transit]]|date=2025|accessdate=June 1, 2025|via=[[Internet Archive]]|location=[[Newark, New Jersey]]}}</ref>
| pass_year          = 2024
| pass_percent       = 
| pass_system        = 
| opened             = 1856{{sfn|Snell|1881|pp=528-529}}
| closed             = 
| rebuilt            = 1869; 1913{{sfn|Bernhart|2004|p=69}}
| electrified        = 
| accessible         = No
| code               = 
| owned              = [[New Jersey Transit]]
| years1             = April&nbsp;1, 1932
| events1            = Passenger service on High Bridge Branch discontinued<ref>{{cite news |title=Branch to Lose Train |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/58499415/high-bridge-branch-february-26-1932/ |access-date=September 6, 2020 |work=The Courier-News |date=February 26, 1932 |location=Plainfield, New Jersey |page=23|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
| zone               = 21
| former             = 
| services           = {{Adjacent stations|system1=NJ Transit
|line1=Raritan Valley|note-mid=weekdays|right1=Annandale
}}
| other_services_header = Former services
| other_services_collapsible = yes
| other_services     = {{Adjacent stations|system1=NJ Transit
|line1=Raritan Valley Phillipsburg|left1=Glen Gardner|right1=Annandale|to-left1=Phillipsburg|note-mid1=Discontinued January 1, 1984|system2=Central Railroad of New Jersey
|line2=Main Line|left2=Phillipsburg|right2=Annandale
|line3=Main Line|left3=Glen Gardner|right3=Annandale
|line4=High Bridge|right4=Hoffmans
}}
| mpassengers        =
| mapframe           = yes
| mapframe-custom    = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail |marker-color=#{{rcr|NJ Transit|Raritan Valley}} |zoom=12 }} 
}}
'''High Bridge''' is a railway station in [[High Bridge, New Jersey|High Bridge]], [[Hunterdon County, New Jersey|Hunterdon County]], [[New Jersey]], [[United States]]. The station is the western terminus of the [[New Jersey Transit Rail Operations|New Jersey Transit's]] [[Raritan Valley Line]]. The next station eastward is [[Annandale (NJT station)|Annandale]]. The parking lot for the station is located one block to the west. The station only uses the southern track for inbound and outbound trains. The former [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] station house, constructed in 1913, is currently used for storage and there is a covered waiting area under the building canopy. This station has no weekend service.

The railroad, and the moniker of High Bridge, was constructed in 1852 through the valley. Despite causing a boom to a local iron works, the railroad did not establish a station in the area until 1856. Until 1983, Raritan Valley service continued westward to [[Phillipsburg, New Jersey|Phillipsburg]]. Limited service and low ridership led [[NJ Transit]] to discontinue all service west of High Bridge. Since service ended, there have been repeated investigations and requests for daily service to be extended back to Phillipsburg.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Higgs |first1=Larry |title=Is It Time to Expand NJ Transit Rail Service to Pennsylvania? Petition Thinks So. |url=https://www.nj.com/traffic/2022/07/is-it-time-to-expand-nj-transit-rail-service-to-pennsylvania-petition-thinks-so.html |access-date=November 29, 2022 |work=New Jersey Advance Media |date=July 11, 2022}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:High Bridge of the Central Railroad of New Jersey 1854.jpg|thumb|[[Central Railroad of New Jersey]]'s High Bridge crossing the [[Raritan River]] in 1854]]
The [[Central Railroad of New Jersey]] constructed an extension of the former Elizabeth and Somerville Railroad from [[Clinton, New Jersey|Clinton]] in 1852. In order to complete the railroad, it required crossing the [[Raritan River]]. The planners decided that a high bridge was the route to go in constructing the line. The railroad constructed a new bridge that was {{convert|1300|ft|m}} long, {{convert|120|ft|m}} high above the Raritan River. The bridge involved eight massive piers of {{convert|100|ft|m}} stone. The construction of the bridge cost $200,000 (1852&nbsp;[[USD]]), equal to ${{Inflation|US|200000|1852|fmt=c}} today.<ref name="highhighbridge">{{cite news|title=Historical Sketch of High Bridge, N.J., and Views of Thriving Industry in That Town|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/18699176/high_bridge_history_august_30_1913/|access-date=March 27, 2018|work=The Plainfield Courier-News|date=August 30, 1913|page=9|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

Construction of the railroad through the valley in 1852 did not involve a station at the current site. Despite no station, the railroad influenced a renaissance of industry in the area. The railroad construction caused the iron works in the area, run by Lewis Taylor, to gain new business. The iron works, which closed in 1783 due to lack of transportation and access, reopened in 1851. With the railroad, Taylor added new furnaces in 1852 and 1854, as well as new items in 1853 and 1856. With the 1856 expansion of the Taylor-Wharton Iron Works, the village in the area expanded, with a railroad station opened at the location. Taylor himself, opened a company store not far from the new station.{{sfn|Snell|1881|pp=528-529}}

The high bridge through the area did not last very long, however. In 1852, the railroad discovered that the bridge was not firm as the bridge swayed when trains would cross. With the train on top, it would depress the track and make it rise as the equipment crossed the structure. When the railroad decided what to do about the unsafe bridge, they first considered an all-stone structure. That was turned down in favor of filling in the bridge. Construction on the new fill began in 1859. Progress began in 1860, with the large stone piers and the bridge being filled in by dirt. The cost of filling in the bridge cost $500,000 (1865&nbsp;USD), covering about $60,000 worth of railroad. Filling in two of the bridge's arches cost $80,000 alone. Sidney Dillon, a local contractor, brought one of the first steam shovels in the region to the area to finish the job. The bridge was filled in by 1865.<ref name="highhighbridge" />

In 2025 the station received a [[transit village]] designation to encourage [[transit-oriented development]] in the surrounding area.<ref>{{cite web |last=Perry |first=Jessica |date=February 21, 2025 |url=https://njbiz.com/nj-adds-latest-transit-village-in-hunterdon-county/ |title=NJ adds latest Transit Village in Hunterdon County |website=NJBIZ |access-date=February 22, 2025}}</ref>

==Station layout==
The station has a single low-level asphalt [[side platform]]. The platform is {{convert|97|ft}} long and accommodates a single car.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 2020 |title=RARITAN VALLEY LINE ONE-SEAT RIDE SERVICE TO MANHATTAN |url=https://raritanvalleyrail.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Raritan-One-Seat_Full-Final-Report.pdf |access-date=2023-06-08 | pages=75; 81}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last1=Bernhart|first1=Benjamin L.|title=Historic Journeys By Rail: Central Railroad of New Jersey Stations, Structures & Marine Equipment|date=2004|publisher=Outer Station Project|isbn=1891402072}}
*{{cite book|last1=Snell|first1=James P.|title=History of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, New Jersey: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofhunterd00snel|date=1881|publisher=Everts and Peck}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|High Bridge (NJT station)}}
{{NJT links}}
*[http://world.nycsubway.org/us/njtransit/raritan.html world.nycsubway.org - NJT Raritan Line]
* [https://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=40.666984,-74.896182&spn=0.003849,0.013679&z=17&layer=c&cbll=40.666984,-74.896182&panoid=OSaTjuZnubG4Ld8hh40PHQ&cbp=12,114.41,,0,-2.91 Bridge Street entrance] at [[Google Maps]]

{{NJT stations navbox}}
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[[Category:1856 establishments in New Jersey]]
[[Category:Former Central Railroad of New Jersey stations]]
[[Category:NJ Transit Rail Operations stations]]
[[Category:Railway stations in Hunterdon County, New Jersey]]
[[Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1856]]