Small freight houses were once a common sight in rural towns across North America. Built in the early 20th century, they provided a link for less-than-carload-lot (LCL) and full carload shipments between the railroad and its local customers. This freight house served Montour Falls, a small community about two miles south of Watkins Glen, N.Y., on the Elmira Branch of the former Pennsylvania RR.
The combination of windows and doorways give clues to the building’s interior arrangements. In this case, the large windows indicate an office area where the railroad’s local agent handled his paperwork. The small window on the track side was probably located in an enclosed file room built into the corner of the main warehouse space.
