Millis is on the right track to fully restoring the Lansing Millis Train Station on Exchange Street within the Millis Center Historic District.  

At a November 2024 Town Meeting, voters appropriated $125,000 [which was then combined with a $125,000 grant from the Community Preservation Committee] for exterior-only repair work that included new roofing, siding, painting, and re-pointing. 

“This was the center of town at one point,” said Selectperson Ellen Rosenfeld in October as the exterior work was nearing completion. “We’re trying to restore it to its former glory.”

In April, the Select Board awarded a contract to Aqua Barriers, Inc. to complete the exterior renovation. The bid was $230,690 which fit within the town’s $250,000 budget for the project. The work began in May.

Lansing Millis was a prominent railroad entrepreneur who purchased land in Millis (then East Medway) to escape the pollution of Boston. He died shortly after the Town of Millis was incorporated in April 1885.

The building itself is unique in many ways. It is built in a Romanesque Revival style with a façade made up of numerous rocks that were donated by colleagues of Charles Millis, Lansing’s son who oversaw construction of the building. Those rocks are of various shapes, sizes, and characteristics – with unique veining and markings (a few appear to have faces), and some are engraved with initials of residents and businesses. Local folklore says the stones include at least one stone from every one of America’s 38 states at the time.

One of the challenges to the intricate exterior renovation work was repair of some of the rosettes near the top of the building – a 3D printer was utilized for that work.

The train station opened in 1886 as part of the Millis Branch (formerly the West Medway Branch) of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad (now MBTA) network. By the mid-1960s, ridership was low and in April 1966 the branch line cut back its service to end in Millis. In April 1967, full passenger service ended in Millis.  

According to research provided by Rosenfeld, “Of the original eight train stations along the Charles River Branch Railroad (under the New York & Boston Railroad) only two remain - Dover, which is currently a nondescript Dunkin Donuts, and Millis. The remaining six have been demolished.”

In Millis, for more than 100 years, the building held various town offices including municipal offices, selectmen,  and the library. The last town offices moved out in 1999. The building then had various tenants, the last ones moving out in 2018 leaving it in disrepair.

A future for the building has not yet been determined but Rosenfeld has suggested moving the Food Pantry to the first floor, and making the second floor a Millis Museum. “Currently, hundreds of artifacts are scattered throughout Town, most notably on the second floor of the Oak Grove Farmhouse,” said Rosenfeld.

But before anyone can move into the space, the inside needs work, and that means more money. Rosenfeld expects to raise that money through private donors.

“It really is cosmetic: plaster, paint, flooring, electrical,” said Rosenfeld, who is currently gathering bids for the work. “I’m looking for $100,000 because I don’t want to go back to the Town.”

Rosenfeld said the response to the renovation has been positive, adding that even residents who did not support the project at Town Meeting are second-guessing their decision. 

“Everybody in town seems to be as excited about this project as I am, if they can put that into dollars, we should be able to cover the cost,” she said. 

There are a few ways to make a tax-deductible donation: by following the QR code, visiting https://bit.ly/MillisTrainStationFund, or sending a check payable to the Town of Millis with “Train Station Fund” in the memo line to Millis Town Hall, 900 Main Street, Millis 02054.

Once the work is completed, donors will be invited to a Donor Appreciation Day to include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, refreshments, tours of the building, photo opportunities, speeches, and more.

Katie Miller contributed to this story