Bowling Green Station: A Little Building With a Big Purpose

In this installment of ‘History Off the Beaten Path,’ we look at a tiny, 120-year-old structure largely unobserved in lower Manhattan.

Bowling Green Station is one of just a handful of subway stations with above-ground entrances. Deena Bouknight

Thousands of people walk by it daily on their way to work or to catch a ferry to Staten Island or the Statue of Liberty. Millions have entered and exited its doors. Yet, while it’s certainly not off the beaten path, the history and distinct architecture of Manhattan’s Bowling Green Station is mostly ignored as residents of and visitors to New York City rush to and fro.

Opened in July 1905, Bowling Green Station gets its name from New York City’s oldest park, which was set aside in the 1700s near where the original Dutch settlers built the New Amsterdam fort. Bowling Green Park was first a green space for playing the British game of bowls. Despite its name, the station is officially located at Broadway and Battery Place in Manhattan’s financial district, just blocks from the Charging Bull statue near the New York Stock Exchange.

A classic analog clock complements the brick and masonry of Bowling Green Station. Deena Bouknight

Traditional Architecture

Constructed in a Flemish architectural style originally brought to the city by the Dutch, the square building’s key features are brick and limestone construction, decorative pediments, and elements of a stepped gable roof. Both its north and south facing entrances and exits sport a prominent roof pediment. Central on one side is a large, carved rosette encircled by a carved ring with four keystone-like elements; the exact same ornamentation is on the other side, but instead of a rosette, a clock is inset into the circle.

Additionally, carved flowers are in both pediments’ arches, just above the circles. Flanking the main oak double-door entrances, over which are smaller pediments inset with a carved ornate rosette, are square columns with Doric-style (simple) capitals.

The masonry decorations at Bowling Green Station are full of detail and floral accents. Deena Bouknight

Bowling Green Station was designed by the New York City architectural firm Heins & LaFarge, headed by George Lewis Heins (1860–1907) and Christopher Grant LaFarge (1862–1938). They were responsible for several buildings in the city. They dressed up stations established by the Interborough Rapid Transit, which was the operating entity for the city’s original subway line.

Once inside the historic Bowling Green building, passengers can wait below on one of two platforms serving two tracks. Four trains come and go at all times of day and night. A popular direct route is from Bowling Green to the iconic Grand Central Station, but one train travels beyond—all the way to the Bronx.

Passengers can travel to a variety of destinations from Bowling Green Station. Deena Bouknight

Interestingly, Bowling Green Station is one of New York City’s few remaining above-ground subway entrances—originally called “control” or “head” houses—in operation. It has been renovated many times to preserve its architectural and historic significance, especially after damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Yet, this dwarfed structure among giants stretching skyward hasn’t lost its unique historic and decorative allure in a city replete with modern design proclivities.

It benefits anyone living in or traveling to New York City to seek out this compact but vital building. Take a moment to admire its architectural style and appreciate the purpose it has served for over a century.

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