Princeton Railroad Station, Crandon Park Zoo, Key Biscayne, Miami-Dade County, FL

1986 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Honorable Mention
Significance: Princeton Station - build ca. 1904 - is a fine frame vernacular F.E.C. section house, moved from Princeton, FL to Key Biscayne, FL and used as a loading station for the Crandon Park Zoo tram. Plans have been made for another move to KEndall, FL and the new Metro Zoo, where F.E.C. plans to build a railroad museum in the future. In the early 1900's the Florida East Coast Railway Company, in an effort to connect Miami and Key West, aided in the development of South Florida. As they proceeded to lay track on the way to Key West many towns grew around station houses erected at section lines along the F.E.C. line. The Princeton stop was developed by the Drake Lumber Company. Gaston Drake's lumber company opened in South Dade as soon as the railroad made shipping possible. Drake's mill provided lumber for much of the building in South Florida, including the railway extension from Homestead to Key West. Drake named the stop after his alma mater, Princeton, and he built housing near the mill for over one hundred and fifty employees establishing the town of Princeton, Florida. At one time the size of the station was doubled. This is apparent from the floor boards which are divided in the middle of the station. The trusses also vary in size from one half to the other, with the newer half having smaller sized members. There is not any documentation on the station as to when this addition was added but the method of construction and type of lumber used is very similar to the original half.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-47
Survey number: HABS FL-365
Building/structure dates: ca. 1904 Initial Construction