[1] Many of the buildings are no longer used for railroad functions, but the former Central Vermont Railway Office now houses the offices of the New England Central Railroad, and the present Amtrak station uses a former CVR building.

The latter structure, built in the 1870s and located on the north side of Lake Street, is the dominant feature of the complex, distinguished by its Second Empire architecture and pair of 3-1/2 story mansard-roofed towers.

On the south side of Lake Street is a large complex of maintenance facilities, which have mostly been repurposed to other commercial and industrial uses.

[2] The Central Vermont Railroad was formed in 1860 by consolidating a number of shorter lines, some of which had been bankrupted, into a single entity providing service from Montreal across Vermont and southern New England to the port cities of Boston, Massachusetts, New London, Connecticut, and later New York City.

The property where its facilities are located had previously been developed on a smaller scale by the predecessor Vermont and Canada Railroad.