Hamilton/Wenham (MBTA station)

Hamilton/Wenham is a commuter rail station on the Newburyport Branch of the MBTA Commuter Rail's Newburyport/Rockport Line, located just south of the intersection of Bay Road (MA Route 1A) and Walnut Road in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. The station straddles the town line between Hamilton and Wenham, with the southern end of the platform geographically in Wenham.HistoryService to the Hamilton/Wenham area began on December 18, 1839 when the Eastern Railroad was extended through the station on its way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The station has seen continuous service ever since. By the early 20th century, the station was used as a turnback point for some trains, and it remained so for decades.When the newly formed MBTA began subsidizing commuter rail service in 1965, Hamilton was the outer limit of the MBTA funding district. On January 18, 1965, most Boston and Maine RailroadBoston and Maine Railroad] commuter services outside the MBTA district - except for a handful of locally subsidized trips - were discontinued. Hamilton-Wenham became the outer terminus for 21 round trips to Boston; the only service beyond was a single Newburyport round trip, subsidized by Newburyport and Rowley. After a subsidy agreement was reached - and a lawsuit from the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway resolved - full service was extended from Hamilton-Wenham to Ipswich on June 28, 1965.