This remarkable little structure is one of three surviving railroad stations that represent the oldest examples of their type in Massachusetts. Characteristic of the early passenger stations, a hipped roof having exceptionally wide overhanging eaves covers a small rectangular box. A strip of molding linking the round arched windows separates the clapboard siding below from flush boarding above. Originally, large brackets supported the eaves. The Boston & Maine Railroad built the station for a separate Saugus branch line that left the main line at South Malden and extended to Lynn. Cliftondale was one of the three villages of Saugus.

A second example, although much altered, is the station in Saugus Center built at the same time. Larger but designed with identical detailing on the exterior, it is located on Central Street adjacent to the tracks. The third example is in Malden.