The Heritage of the Ussuri Railway in Dalnerechensk

Glatolenkova Ekaterina Senior Lecturer, Department of Design of Architectural Environment, Pacific National University 680035, Russia, Khabarovskii krai, g. Khabarovsk, ul. Tikhookeanskaya, 136 008703@pnu.edu.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Relevance. The railway architecture of Dalnerechensk of the late XIX – early XX century is of research interest in the light of the study of the large-scale construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the identification of preserved objects of historical and cultural heritage of Russian railways in the Far East. The construction of the road was accompanied by the solution of the tasks of ensuring the life of the settlers and, no less important, required the creation of a familiar image of the city far from their native places. The preserved buildings are the most significant, from the point of view of studying the architectural heritage, part of the urban development of Dalnerechensk, and their compact placement allows us to consider the objects of research as a single complex. 

The problem of research. Dalnerechensk, until 1972 – a V–class station of Iman, is one of the few cities in the south of the Far East where some attention is paid to the railway heritage: of the 14 architectural monuments of local (regional) significance, nine are associated with the railway past ¹. The buildings along Ussuriyskaya Street, parallel to the railway, are clearly distinguishable among the one–story buildings - information panels are located on the facades facing the street, the colors of the facades are kept in a single scale, the details are preserved. In the Glublina district, along the streets of Freedom and Heroes of Damansky, the situation is different: buildings are surrounded by blind fences and trees, there is no information about buildings, facade elements have been lost (window blocks have been replaced, bindings and decor of windows and doors have been lost). The area around the houses is not landscaped, there are no sidewalks, the facades are in poor condition. Residential buildings, traditionally perceived as utilitarian buildings, do not arouse such interest among citizens, tourists and even researchers as the "gates of the city" – the railway station and the buildings adjacent to it and the railway tracks. At the same time, they formed the basis of the station settlement and were necessary to provide housing for the first builders; today they are an important historical and cultural heritage of the turn of the XIX - XX centuries.

The purpose and objectives of the study. The purpose of the study is to systematize information about the presence and mutual location of objects of architectural heritage of the Ussuri railway in Dalnerechensk and to preserve the complex of historical buildings. The tasks of the work included the analysis of the location of the preserved railway buildings of the city, the study of the historical context and the current state of the historical environment, drawing up the layout of cultural heritage objects (mapping).

A brief overview of research on the topic. Among the studies of the architecture of Far Eastern cities, there are very few publications devoted to the industrial heritage of the region. One of the first are the articles and dissertation of S. S. Levoshko (Moiseenkova) "The evolution of placement and architectural and urban organization of industrial enterprises in the cities of the Far East" (1987), the works of M. E. Bazilevich devoted to architecture and architects of Primorye and the Amur region ^[1],[2]. Foreign influences in the formation of the image of the Iman of the beginning of the XX century are considered in the work of A. P. Ivanova ^[3]. Modern research on Dalnerechensk mainly considers sociological processes in the city and changes in the post-perestroika period. In particular, L. E. Blyakher's article "Roadside economy as a form of survival of small towns in the south of the Russian Far East" studies the specific position and orientation of entrepreneurs not only on the highway, but also, interestingly in the context of this publication, on the railway and the development of its tourist potential ^[4].

The research methodology is based on the attribution of objects identified during the expeditions. The methods of complex research used combine field surveys, historical-archival and bibliographic research. To prepare the publication, materials obtained during the expedition in October 2022 were used; full-scale surveys of the railway station area and their photofixation made it possible to identify the objects of research and determine their location. Drawings and design documentation were obtained as a result of archival surveys in 2017-2023, information about the progress of construction works in the city was obtained from the materials of the Dalnerechensk History Museum fund. 

The author expresses gratitude to the staff of the Museum of the History of the city of Dalnerechensk and the staff of the Far Eastern State Scientific Library of Khabarovsk for their assistance in conducting the research.

The study was carried out with the financial support of the RFBR and RYaK No. 21-512-23004.

Architectural environment of Grafskaya Stanitsa and Iman station

The history of Dalnerechensk is a classic example of the development of a Far Eastern city. It received the status of a city in 1917 and united several scattered settlements: a settlement at a railway station, a Cossack village and a military garrison. The village of Grafskaya was formed in the middle of the XIX century, immediately after the conclusion of the Treaty of Aigun. Cossack villages were founded along the entire right bank of the Ussuri River. The first settlers of the Grafskaya stanitsa in 1859 were Cossacks of the Trans-Baikal Cossack army, later – Cossacks of the Don, Tver, Kuban, Orenburg troops. In 1895, the creation of the Amur-Ussuri Cossack Flotilla and the development of the Iman pier (Iman is the name of the Ussuri tributary, the current name is Bolshaya Ussurka) began, and in 1891, the construction of the Ussuri Railway, which was divided into Southern and Northern sections for the convenience of construction work. Nearby stations Muravyov-Amursky and Iman (at a distance of about 9 versts from each other) were the endpoints of these sites. Due to the presence of a pier on Ussuri, part of the cargo from Vladivostok for the construction of the tracks of the northern section was delivered further to Khabarovsk along the river, for this a branch was laid to the pier from the main line of the road under construction. Initially, the railway station was also called Grafskaya, and later it was renamed Iman. Muravyov-Amursky station was renamed Lazo station.
According to the survey from the funds of the Dalnerechensk Museum (Fig. 1), it can be seen that the Grafskaya stanitsa was located between the Ussuri and Iman rivers, on its left bank.

The Cossack village has not been preserved – as a rule, the Cossacks' housing was simple houses of the same type (traditional pyatistenok). The same type of house could be used for housing, and for the placement of school classes and for administrative needs.
In the information about the settlement of Iman in 1907, it is noted that "the rapid formation and growth of the settlement was facilitated by a significant military garrison standing on Iman and the annual settlement of a significant number of settlers in the area closest to Iman" ^[5]. The data also indicates that despite the relatively favorable climate, agriculture was not developed in the area, there were no peasant settlements: "The settlement of Iman is currently a fairly populated trading post of the Ussuri region with a predominantly commercial, handicraft and service population and with a complete absence of farmers..." ^{[5, p. 18]}. A significant population (about 10,000 people) was provided with all the necessary institutions: hospitals, schools, colleges, public meetings. ²

Historical development of the railway station

Layout. Work on the preparation of the territory project and coordination took place through the Technical Department, the documents were signed by the head of the department. O. P. Vyazemsky and Yu. I. Kurdyumov took part in the construction of the track and the design of the station buildings. In the early drawing of the village (Fig. 2) at the railway station, the main objects necessary for the functioning of the road are indicated – a passenger building (built according to a standard project, wooden), a water–lifting building, a number of wooden buildings - a repair barracks, a food point, a barracks of lower ranks (Fig. 4), warehouses, a bathhouse. Construction work on the construction of buildings was carried out in 1894-1897.³
In the I. S. Clark Satellite , the following is said about the Iman station: "A relatively large, stone and well-maintained railway station, near which the barracks buildings of a railway battalion with a church are grouped. Behind the station is a vast village, several streets long, with hotels, inns, Japanese, Chinese, Russian shops, with a branch of the Kunst and Albers company, Chinese inns and Japanese brothels" ^{[5, p. 82]}. All the listed buildings were located outside the exclusion zone of the road, where the construction was supervised by the Ministry of Railways, on the plan the boundary of the alienation is shown by a dashed line (Fig. 2). 

Passenger building. The first railway station was built in 1897, made of wood. The facade was designed according to a standard design for passenger buildings of Class V, but had a large area and an elongated structure. The building housed the premises of the stationmaster, a telegraph office, rooms for switchmen and telegraph operators ^{[7, p. 53]}. The passenger hall for 5,32 sq. fathoms was located in the protruding part of the station facing the platform, and was not divided into classes. In the 1908-1910s, reconstruction took place along the entire line of the road, due to the growth of passenger traffic and the need to expand the areas of railway stations and strengthen the track. At many stations, the first wooden buildings were replaced with more durable brick or stone ones. In particular, the stations in Nikolsk-Ussuriysky, at Spasskaya station and in Dalnerechensk were renovated. The new brick passenger building was built next to the existing wooden one, closer to the road line (Fig. 3a): according to the first general plans, the wooden building was located at a distance from the paths along which the gardens were planted.  The first station was dismantled only in 2002, and in 2003 a new, more spacious, two-story station was built in its place (Fig. 3b). The old passenger building continues to be operated as an administrative building of JSC "Russian Railways (RZD)". 

Residential buildings for road employees. To provide housing for the battalions of railway troops engaged in the construction of the railway, spacious wooden barracks, about 30 fathoms long, were built along the entire line. In total, 21 barracks ⁴ were built on the Severno-Ussuriyskaya line, one in Iman, with outbuildings and significantly removed from the road line to the east. To this day, the barracks has been preserved in good condition. The paneling and decor of the two end gables survived. The building houses separate apartments with private plots (Fig. 4b).
In addition to barracks, wooden houses for family workers were also built. This is a typical project, common at other stations of the Ussuri road – in Vyazemsky, Spassk. A residential house for four families, rectangular in plan, with a characteristic decoration of the gables (Fig. 5).
The modernization of 1908-1910 also affected the transformation of the living environment. Along the first line from the railway tracks (today – Ussuriyskaya Street), capital residential houses for two or four owners with plots were built. It is these buildings that are best preserved and are architectural monuments of the city – these are five houses along Ussuriyskaya Street (Fig. 6).

The current state of the railway station area. 

In the Decree of the Governor of Primorsky Krai, approved in September 2000,1, nine architectural monuments of the city of Dalnerechensk are listed. The buildings are equipped with information signs, the facades are given a uniform, close to historical appearance. Most of the monuments – residential buildings in private ownership with outbuildings are fenced; only the brick base of the water tower has survived; the former passenger building is closed to visitors. All the mentioned buildings are located compactly, the building line is stretched along the Trans-Siberian railway and is part of the central district of the city. The station square is one of the important transport hubs (there are railway and bus stations nearby, a viaduct opens onto the square through the tracks to the coastal part of the city), important administrative buildings, a memorial zone and a city park are located in the continuation of the axis of the square. Local residents also recognize the importance of the railway past of the city – a separate stand is dedicated to the construction of the station in the Museum of the history of Dalnerechensk.

The station square is one of the important transport hubs (there are railway and bus stations nearby, a viaduct opens onto the square through the tracks to the coastal part of the city), administrative buildings, a memorial zone and a city park are located in the continuation of the axis of the square.  

The study of the historical development of the village of the former railway station allowed us to identify a number of objects that have a direct connection with the history of the construction of the Ussuri railway and are among the oldest buildings in the city. Among them: the station building, built in the 1910s, a water-lifting building (preserved base), brick and wooden residential buildings, a former wooden barracks and, so far, presumably, a bathhouse building. All buildings are marked on the diagram (Fig. 7). 

Conclusions

The railway architecture of Dalnerechensk definitely occupies an important place in the modern structure of the city. Despite more than a century and a half of its history, the buildings from the time of the construction of the Ussuri Railway continue to be operated and not only have not lost their attractiveness, but are important elements of the urban environment, a complex, a landmark of the city that determines its identity.  The preservation of this complex is an important matter that requires consistent research work. The results obtained on the identification and systematization of the preserved objects of railway heritage can be used in further research by the author, specialists in the field of restoration, museum workers to compile excursion routes for those interested in the history of the city and passing tourists.

Notes

1. Resolution of the Governor of Primorsky Krai dated 29.09.2000 N 653 “On approval of the state list of immovable historical and cultural monuments of local (regional) significance" | GARANT [Electronic resource]. URL: https://base.garant.ru/30119419 / (accessed: 05/14/2023)

2. Siberian Yearbook. 1913 b/m: b/g Ed. III. pp. 171-172. Quote from ^{[6, p. 38]}.

3. Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East. Fund 702. Inventory. 2. Case 597. Sheets 74, 150, 190-190ob. Information about the progress of work on the construction of the North-Ussuri railway. Quote from ^{[10, p. 71, 93, 118]}.

4. Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East. Fund 702. Inventory. 2. Case. 597. Sheet 82. Information about the progress of work on the construction of the North-Ussuri railway. Quote from ^{[10, p. 76]}.