Rail Yard Society
Sponsor a door
The 1902 Quakertown Freight House seen along its Front Street elevation, a run of eight timber freight doors under a dark standing-seam roof
Quakertown, Pennsylvania · Built 1902 · Philadelphia & Reading Railroad

The Freight House

Sixteen doors. One landmark. Its next hundred years.

Thirty years of silence on Front Street ends in 2027. We are restoring Quakertown’s 1902 freight station into a public event house — and you can put your name on a door.

Sponsor a door — $25,000See the restoration plan
Phase II fully funded$1,000,000 Main Street Matters grant awarded July 2026Construction begins October 2026
1902Built by the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad
$2.75MTotal restoration cost
$1.5MPublic funding secured to date
16Original freight doors — eight on each elevation
Fall 2027Doors open to the public
The case

The 1902 freight house is the last railroad building left on Front Street, and it is one funding phase away from being finished rather than lost.

The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad built it in 1902 to move freight through Quakertown. Freight stopped decades ago and the building sat vacant and unheated ever since. Phase I — $776,000 of foundation work, masonry reinforcement, and a new standing-seam metal roof — is complete, so the structure is no longer losing itself to weather. What remains is finishing it, not saving it.

Pennsylvania has already committed $1,500,000 to this building: a $1,000,000 Main Street Matters award through the Department of Community & Economic Development and a $500,000 emergency allocation secured by Senator Jarrett Coleman. Restored, the freight house becomes a public event house drawing an estimated 13,000–17,500 people a year into downtown Quakertown — visitors who park, eat, and shop on Front Street.

  1. 1902Built

    Freight moves through Front Street daily on the Philadelphia & Reading line.

  2. 1990sClosed

    The last shipment leaves. The building goes quiet and stays quiet.

  3. 2027Reopens

    The doors open again — this time to the public.

02

Sixteen doors

Eight original freight doors face Front Street. Eight more face the siding. Sixteen in all, and each one costs $25,000 to restore. Sponsor one and your name is set into it — permanently, in brass, at the threshold everyone walks through.

9 doors remain$25,000 each · Naming rights in brass
Both elevations · Swipe →
Quakertown Freight HouseMeasured elevations · Roof plan16 doors · 8 per elevation
01Front Street elevationDoors 01–08 · 7 of 8 sponsored
0102030405060708
02Trackside elevationDoors 09–16 · 0 of 8 sponsored
0910111213141516
Hover or focus a door$25,000 · Naming rights in brass
The restoration plan
Phase I — Complete

Stabilize

$776,000 — COMPLETE

Foundation secured, masonry reinforced, and a new standing-seam metal roof installed. The building is no longer losing itself to weather.

Phase II — Funded, begins October 2026

Rebuild

$1,000,000 — PA DCED MAIN STREET MATTERS, AWARDED JULY 2026

Interior build-out to modern code: the sixteen freight doors, restrooms, plumbing, and HVAC. Construction begins October 2026.

Phase III — Fundraising now

Finish

$400,000 — BUY-A-DOOR · 16 DOORS × $25,000

The final phase is funded one door at a time. Each $25,000 sponsorship restores one original 1902 freight door and carries a name in cast brass.

What it becomes

A public event house

The restored freight house operates as a public event house: a rentable hall for weddings, community gatherings, markets, and civic events, run by the same nonprofit that restored it. Rental income funds the building’s upkeep so it never again depends on being rescued, and the calendar keeps roughly ~100 events a year moving through downtown Quakertown.

~100Events a year
13,000–17,500Estimated annual visitors into downtown Quakertown
Looking up into the freight house roof: heavy original timber trusses beneath new wood decking
The hall under its restored roof
Who’s behind it

The Rail Yard Society is a Pennsylvania 501(c)(3) that restores the historic buildings left along the state’s rail lines and rail trails. The freight house is its current work, and Quakertown is where it proves the model.

CHRISTOPHER LABONGE, presidentCHRISTOPHER LABONGEPRESIDENT
EDWARD SCHOLL, vice presidentEDWARD SCHOLLVICE PRESIDENT
JENNIFER BERGSTRESSERSECRETARY
RANDY BOCHNIAK, treasurerRANDY BOCHNIAKTREASURER
SARAH FONTANEZBOARD MEMBER
GAVIN LABOSKI, board memberGAVIN LABOSKIBOARD MEMBER
VINCENT RANDAZZO, board memberVINCENT RANDAZZOBOARD MEMBER
LEANNA KNIGHT, executive directorLEANNA KNIGHTEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

We have done this before, four blocks away. The Trolley Barn Public Market — an 1897 trolley barn, now a year-round market with food vendors, a brewery, a winery and a distillery. Same team. Same town. Already open.

Who’s backing it
PA DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTMAIN STREET MATTERS — $1,000,000
SEN. JARRETT COLEMAN$500,000 EMERGENCY ALLOCATION
QUAKERTOWN BOROUGHLEASE HOLDER AND PROJECT PARTNER
BUCKS COUNTY INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITYPROJECT PARTNER
REPS. GARY DAY AND CRAIG STAATSLEGISLATIVE SUPPORT
PressAll coverage & documents
Leanna Knight, executive director of the Rail Yard Society

Talk to a person

267-372-4767Leanna Knight, Executive DirectorSponsor a door — $25,000