Originally called the Woodlawn Station, this building was constructed in 1910, making it one of the P. & L.E. Railroad Company's later passenger stations. In scale and plan, it is similar to the 1894 stations at Glassport and Coraopolis (National Register) by Shepley, Rutan, and Collidge, as well as the 1897 station at Beaver. It appears that the railroad company abandoned the Richardsonian Romanesque style of these earlier stations in favor of the Tudor Revival style for the design of the Aliquippa Station. This reflects the change in popular building styles between the 1890s and the early twentieth century.
The Aliquippa Station is also similar to the Richardsonian stations in its level of detailing. However, it falls below the level of detailing at the railroad's 1901 Beaux Arts headquarters in Pittsburgh (National Register), and is a clear step above the level of detailing of the small frame station buildings at other stops on the line, such as Glenwillard and Edinburg. In comparison, the stations constructed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company at Rochester, Ambridge, and Leetsdale are similar in scale, simpler in detail, and of earlier construction than the P. & L.E.'s Aliquippa Station.
The historical significance of the station at Aliquippa lies in its expression of the railroad's support for, and faith in, the development of the mill and community at Woodlawn by Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. The primacy of rail transport at that time made the station a symbolic and functional expression of the local community's physical connection to the surrounding metropolitan region. The P. & L.E.'s connection with the area of Woodlawn began in 1878 when it leased 100 acres of land along Jones Run. This tract of land was known as "Jones Woods" and was located near the small rural community of "Woodlawn."
In 1889, the railroad company opened "Aliquippa Park" at Jones Woods. The park was established to attract passenger traffic to the railroad and offered visitors ball fields, tennis courts, a dance pavilion, a restaurant, and other amusements. In 1902, the railroad purchased additional land, which is the site of the present station. Five years later, the railroad sold the aforementioned land rights to Jones and Laughlin Steel Company, which had purchased large tracts of land for the construction of a new blast furnace and manufacturing plant to be known as the "Aliquippa Works."
A land company formed by Jones and Laughlin began, in 1909, to lay out a residential development and built an average of one house per day during its first year of operation. The P. & L.E. responded to this rapid growth by contracting with John L. Stuard on April 28, 1910, to construct the Woodlawn Passenger Station.
The new station opened the following year and continued to serve rail passengers until July 1968, when declining traffic led to its closure. The Borough of Aliquippa subsequently used the building until 1974, when J. & L. Steel Company purchased the station and renovated it for use as offices. Since 1984, J. & L. Structural, Inc. has owned and occupied the building, having restored the exterior in 1988.
The surviving architectural plans for the Aliquippa Station are original ink-on-linen drawings, which appear to have no title block or signature(s) indicating their designer(s). Similar ink drawings also exist for the stations at Beaver and Coraopolis. Since the latter has been documented to have been designed by the firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Collidge, whose original construction plans survive for their design of the Glassport Station, it is assumed that these unmarked ink drawings are the railroad's recordings of •as built" conditions.
The Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Passenger Station at Aliquippa has been sympathetically renovated on the interior and has been recently restored on the exterior. It is a well-preserved and well-maintained example of the Tudor Revival Style with Craftsman detailing, and remains an outstanding building in Beaver County. Its historic association with the railroads and Jones and Laughlin Steel Company further supports the building's local importance.
