Summary: Since November 1904, elevated stations of the subway system have dotted the landscape of the Bronx. And thanks to these stations, the area quickly became a popular residential area for the citys uppermiddle class. In 1899, The American Real Estate Company bought an 86acre tract in the Bronx. Although much of the land was then sold to developers, they built stores and apartment buildings near the Simpson Street station. A real estate advertisement from the time said, Certainly no part of New York is as attractive as the Bronx. And now that the subway is completed, no residential area in New York is more convenient. At the corner of Westchester and Southern Boulevard at the Simpson Street station of the subway we have completed a number of strictly high class elevator apartments.What kind of station was worthy of being a part of this posh landscape Simpson Street has a more traditionally Victorian design than most of the subway. In their design, architects Heins amp LaFarge were inspired by the existing Manhattan elevated railway stations. As with most elevated stations on the IRT, Simpson Street stations most distinctive feature is the control houses used for passenger entry. The two buildings are set diagonally from one another, 70 feet apart, and their facades sit 20 feet above street level.The general size and style of the control houses has not changed in the past century. One of their most distinctive features is their roofs. They are low hanging hipped roofs, with all four roof faces rising to a ridge across the top. As a result, the front slope has a broader face than the narrow side sections. They were built with steel framing and wood siding, and covered in copper. The exterior walls were also covered in copper. Copper has been used as a waterproof roofing material for centuries. Since it is also resistant to corrosion, malleable, and strong under stress, it worked well as a material for the control houses. The copper is painted brick red, and is decorated with a fleurdelis decoration on the bracketed eaves. The downtown control house, on the north side of Westchester Avenue, retains much of this original detail.To enter the control houses, passengers walk through central bays on their street side. These bays project onto the sidewalk, and extend to the control house roof line. Inside, the tall spaces are spanned by two steel arches.Steel and cast iron stairways and original castiron IRT lampposts lead passengers up to the station platforms. The stair canopies also have gabled roofs. They have typical IRT station ironwork details, including a C scroll pattern that Heins amp LaFarge also used in brass and on castiron interior decoration. Though some stations originally had elevators, Simpson Street did not. The ones you see here were installed in the 1980s.On the platforms, the dominant station feature is the windscreen, installed to protect passengers and their belongings from the elements. These modern windscreens span about half of the platform. Sadly, these windscreens block the view of many of the original IRT railings and lampposts. But on the ends of the platform you can still see the ornamental railings and lampposts designed by Heins amp LaFarge. These highly ornamental lampposts were made possible because of the economics of massproduction in cast iron production. Details like this can help us conjure up images of the idyllic Bronx landscapes that delighted real estate developers in the early 20th century.
