It was a significant station stop along the historic route connecting Toronto to North Bay, and the Canadian Pacific Railway (1885).
Due to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Mattawa valley, and along the north shore of Lake Nipissing beginning in the summer of 1881, the Toronto-based Northern and Northwestern wished to provide a direct connection to the new C.P.R.
It was later moved by the Grand Trunk to the west side of the mainline, opposite to its original location, likely around 1907-1908 (Requires confirmation.)
At this time, a new operators bay was constructed and finished with a new gable roof to face the mainline.
Sometime in the post-war era (after 1945) a gray asphalt siding product (Insulbrick) was applied by Canadian National Railways over the wall sections.
General neglect and lack of investment in these types of stations rendered most of them beyond repair, in which case they were demolished or left to decay.
The community of South River, however, established a restoration group which has overseen a concerted effort to save and re-establish the original paint scheme and wood finishes of the structure.
Restoration work on the station was undertaken in the early to mid 2000s, with the hope to rehabilitate the building and re-use it for a new community purpose.
From 1888 until roughly 1919, passenger and freight traffic between North Bay and Toronto was provided primarily by the Grand Trunk Railway.
Trains such as the 'Cobalt Express' provided service between Toronto and the world-famous silver mining community of Cobalt, Ontario circa 1906 onwards.
It featured a regular passenger train service between Cochrane and Toronto called "The Northland."
The station building built in 1884, closed by CN Rail in 1986[3] and now being renovated as a community heritage centre.