The year 1971 saw the final chapter of an era in the heritage of Livingston Manor. Nothing defined the village more, and the important role played in the area’s development, then during the eighty-four years when the puffing of steam engines and the rumble of passenger and freight cars on passing trains brought passengers, mail and freight both into and out of the village. The demise of the New York Ontario & Western Railway was completed fifteen years earlier, in 1957, when the last scheduled freight train made the railroad company’s final passage through the Manor yard. One year later, a work train traveled up the line, pulling up the mainline and siding tracks as it passed through the Manor’s yard, leaving the remaining relicts associated with the railroad to fall into neglect and eventually become victims to the whims of progress. 

Built in 1900, the Livingston Manor O&W station replaced an earlier version that was erected eighteen years earlier. The former depot was a two story structure, barnlike in appearance and covered with a slate roof, combined with a smaller, single story addition attached the north side of the building. Inside, besides the telegraph and station agent’s offices, was a large eatery. The second story had been fitted with rooms to accommodate trainmen for overnight stays. 

During the construction of the new station, the older building was divided into sections and moved to new locations. The larger two-story structure was placed on wooden rollers, and pulled down the street to its new location on the corner of Main and Church streets. As for the single story addition, that too was rolled down the street and attached to rear of the Judge McGrath house, then in the process of being built across the street from the old depot’s relocated larger section.

Both of these sections of the old depot survive today, one hundred and forty years after its initial construction as a railroad depot, and there are still historic signs of its former self found in both buildings. Inside the larger section, the ticket agent window is still intact. As for the smaller section, the trim around the windows has been maintained in its original designs as it appeared in early images of the building. That the original old depot, along with its historic features, have survived after all these years is remarkable. Sadly, as reported in the Manor Times, it can be seen that there was little interest in preserving its successor and more attractive counterpart.