In May, 2025, the Stratford Public Library building, housed in a former train depot, was listed on the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places. The depot had been painstakingly renovated in the early 2000s and opened in 2008 as the town’s public library.
Paul D. Raffenello of Bloomfield, VT, was instrumental in securing the building’s historic designation. A lifelong train enthusiast, he has been volunteering at the library for several years now to set up the “Railroad Room”, which houses a small railroad museum and an operating O-Scale model railroad. Both are open to the public during regular library hours, and the model railroad operates on select weekends.
In its heyday, Stratford was an important railroad hub, with several lines running through the town. The St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad was the first international railway in the United States. It came through Stratford in 1853 and connected Montreal, Quebec with Portland, Maine – an ice free port used to ship Canadian wheat to Europe.
The first depot in Stratford was built in 1854, but as passenger traffic increased and Brunswick Springs became more popular, a larger depot was built in 1889 on the north side of the tracks.
In 1920, the depot was moved to its current location across the tracks and was enlarged. As rail traffic decreased after WWII, the station became a work shed and finally fell into disrepair.
Learn more about the North Stratford Train Depot at the Library Page/Historic Train Depot tab.