icon for Home page
icon for Kid's Home page
icon for Digital Collection
icon for Activities
icon for Turns Exhibit
icon for In the Classroom
icon for Chronologies
icon for My Collection

Things To Do
Dress Up | 1st Person | African American Map | Now Read This | Magic Lens | In the Round | Tool Videos | Architecture | e-Postcards | Chronologies | Turns Activities

Send an E-Postcard of:
Main Street

front
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.

The electric trolley was first introduced to Western Massachusetts in Springfield in 1889, and over the next decade trolley systems spread to the larger towns of the region. Starting around 1902, some regional networks were built in New England, particularly in the Boston area. By 1907, it was possible to take a trolley from Springfield to Worcester and on to Boston using different companies' lines. In Greenfield, the Electric Street Railway Company began operation in June, 1895, with runs to Turners Falls and Millers Falls. Neighboring communities built their own rail lines, and by 1905 Greenfield was linked by trolley to Northampton, Amherst, and Montague and points in between. These companies consolidated that year into the Connecticut Valley Street Railway. By 1910, a well developed network of electric trolleys meant that a passenger could ride from Greenfield to Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. Trolley links connected cities all the way to Chicago, paralleling the existing steam lines. But the rise of the automobile and labor costs meant that the street railways began to decline after World War I. The Connecticut Valley Street Railway went into bankruptcy in 1923. The system in and around Greenfield was purchased by the town in 1924, which resuscitated it; however, the system collapsed during the Great Depression.

 

top of page

Share this image with a friend.
Simply enter their e-mail address below and we'll send them this image in an e-mail greeting, along with a link to see the image on our site.

To E-Mail Address *
From E-Mail Address *
From Name
Message

* = Required


button for Side by Side Viewingbutton for Glossarybutton for Printing Helpbutton for How to Read Old Documents

 

Home | Online Collection | Things To Do | Turns Exhibit | Classroom | Chronologies | My Collection
About This Site | Site Index | Site Search | Feedback