08/12/2026
“Pittstown Calling". We searched for a long time before finding this location. Pittstown Station, about four miles south of Clinton NJ, was built in 1891 along the newly constructed Capoolong Branch. This railway connected to the nearby Lehigh Valley RR with service to Allentown PA and the NY Metro area. It was integral in bringing millions of peaches (peaches for me) from Hunterdon orchards to NYC and beyond. Yes, tiny, little Pittstown became a booming peach capital in the 1890s! Check out this historic photo near the same location! From recent anecdotal stories, Phillips Farms in Holland Township was one of the earlier peach growers in the area. It was a short-lived boon though, due to a blight which wiped out most northern New Jersey peach trees by 1900. In the proceeding years, the line was used primarily for fresh milk shipments to New York area markets but the advent of the automobile brought more mobility and less need for rails. Passenger service was also available from Pittstown until 1936 with connections in nearby Landsdown. In the late 1960s the rail line was abandoned and the tracks removed. Landsdown Station was razed - bonus points if you can find any historic photos of the Lansdowne train station. Pittstown’s station and agent booth remains, though the elements have not been kind.
Walking the old rail bed along Capoolong Creek transports one back to a simpler time. The surrounding fields were tilled for generations, children played in the creek, lovers wrote bad poetry to one another on its banks. Farmers planned for their futures, then replanned when all went south (quite literally for the peach industry). There are plenty of signs left of this former way of life, some are just obscured by nature and what we call progress.
![[Edit - location found, Rt. 173! See below] Friends, We need help identifying the exact location of this historic Willia...](https://img5.travelagents10.com/692/026/122175217136920262.jpg)
