145th Street IRT Station

MuseumCast: The New York Transit Museum Podcast Series

The subway opened to great fanfare in 1904 with its slogan promising New Yorkers could travel from City Hall to Harlem in fifteen minutes While this might have been a slight exaggeration, there is no doubt that the subway had a great impact on Harlem. The last station on the Lenox Avenue line of the original IRT was in Harlem, at 145th Street. The 145th Street Station is one of the few 1904 stations that have not had its platforms extended. They remain 348 feet long. As such, today the station looks much the same way that it did to the first riders. It was a typical local station, with two platforms and two entrances at street level. The station ceramics also look much the same way they did in 1904. They are a fine example of the typical ceramics designed by the architects Heins amp LaFarge for the original IRT stations. Just below the egg and dart molding along the top of the station wall, youll see a number of faience plaques. The plaques have a beige 145 on a blue inset background, with a beige cornucopia and border. The cornucopia was a popular 19th century motif. It was a symbol of New York Citys commercial prosperity. The mass production possibilities of ceramics are evident in the 145th Street station plaque. It has two sections. The station number is an inset and was usable only at 145th Street. But the surrounding cornucopia and border was massproduced and could be used at any station. It can also be seen at the 86th, 137th, and 157th Street stations.The mosaic station name tablet is another ceramic detail that can be seen at many IRT stations. This is standard design, with names spelled out in ceramic tiles inside a rectangle with a flowery BeauxArts border. Except for differences in colors, the name tablets at 33rd, Fulton, and Wall Streets are nearly identical to the one at 145th Street. Surrounding these name tablets, modern ceramic tiles have been used to replace the original glass tiles at the south end of the uptown platform. Today, this is a standard method of station renovation. In addition to ceramics, this station retains some of its original marble details. In the fare collection area on the uptown platform are rooms that once served as public restrooms. Above these doors are marble lintels carved with the words MEN and WOMEN. The words are flanked by rosette details that Heins amp LaFarge used throughout the original stations. The rosette was a popular motif in BeauxArts design. Heins amp LaFarge had it executed in both stone and ceramic. It is also a decoration used on Heins gravestone in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Heins died in 1907, in the midst of his firms subway contract. LaFarge continued working on the subway for another year.Interestingly, this station was once slated to be closed. The original IRT plans did not include a station at 145th Street. Instead, it had its final station at 141st Street. When it was decided to build a maintenance yard at 148th Street, the 141st Street station was scrapped, and changed to 145th Street. In 1968, another station was built in the 148th Street yard, and 145th Street with its shorter than standard platforms was set to close. But the community insisted the station stay open, and today, it stands as a symbol of the beauty of stations deigned by Heins amp LaFarge.