http://www.amesburycity.com/trolleys.htm
I found this article while looking for the history on some old trolley tracks I remembered seeing as a kid. We'd take the back road to Newburyport from Merrimac down along River Road and then along over the Chain Bridge over the Merrimack River to Newburyport. Along Main Street in Amesbury was a set of double tracks that were poking through the pavement for quite a distance. For many years, I could never find any information on them and then I came across this link. It was quite interesting to read the history of the various trolley companies that sprang up in the early part of the 20th century. They competed heavily for the passenger traffic between the mill cities and the beaches at Hampton, Seabrook, Salisbury, and Newburyport. At one point two companies paralleled in Market Square in Amesbury and fights broke out during the winter as the crews shoveled snow from the tracks of one company on to the others.
A family traveling from Concord, NH to Hampton Beach would take about 10 hours. They'd leave Concord and head to Manchester, NH across to Exeter, then down to Amesbury and then over to the beaches. This is about 110 miles and the trip is still quite roundabout but not nearly as bad. The journey then was long, but there are accounts of people enjoying the trip as they road through the scenic countryside. I suppose it was a lot more comfortable to do this than ride on the mud roads which made a very bumpy, dusty, and uncomfortable journey. Eventually companies offered air-conditioned cars which made the trip even more enjoyable.
Amesbury became the hub of all the trolley connections in the eastern Merrimack Valley and the southern seacoast area of New Hampshire. Amesbury its self was once the home of carriage makers, and once the early trolley companies and horse car companies started, manufacturers turned to making trolley cars. These companies flourished right up until the automobile came along, and very interestingly Amesbury was once considered a candidate for the early automobile industry. How different this area would have been if that had been the choice.
Anyway, back to my sleuthing on the old tracks. The line came in from Merrimac where I lived. The car barn was located where the town police and fire station is today. They renovated the building about 30 years ago as it sat derelict for quite a number of years. The line from Merrimac to Haverhill, where I live today, ran along Route 110 by Kenoza Lake and terminated in Monument Square. This area is not too far from where I live, and interestingly there are still a few old sites left even today. If you were to drive north along Route 110 towards Merrimac and Amesbury, you can still see some of the ROW on the right hand side of the road. The poles are long gone, but the grade is still there. Up until recently, before the state widened Route 110 near Kenoza Lake, and the city worked on the embankment along the reservoir, the old ROW was visible there too. The rest of the area, however has lost its trolley history. I looked at Bing Bird's Eye view and couldn't see anymore remains. So much gets erased over the years.
It was a fun way to spend the afternoon while I ran a database repair.
John
I found this article while looking for the history on some old trolley tracks I remembered seeing as a kid. We'd take the back road to Newburyport from Merrimac down along River Road and then along over the Chain Bridge over the Merrimack River to Newburyport. Along Main Street in Amesbury was a set of double tracks that were poking through the pavement for quite a distance. For many years, I could never find any information on them and then I came across this link. It was quite interesting to read the history of the various trolley companies that sprang up in the early part of the 20th century. They competed heavily for the passenger traffic between the mill cities and the beaches at Hampton, Seabrook, Salisbury, and Newburyport. At one point two companies paralleled in Market Square in Amesbury and fights broke out during the winter as the crews shoveled snow from the tracks of one company on to the others.
A family traveling from Concord, NH to Hampton Beach would take about 10 hours. They'd leave Concord and head to Manchester, NH across to Exeter, then down to Amesbury and then over to the beaches. This is about 110 miles and the trip is still quite roundabout but not nearly as bad. The journey then was long, but there are accounts of people enjoying the trip as they road through the scenic countryside. I suppose it was a lot more comfortable to do this than ride on the mud roads which made a very bumpy, dusty, and uncomfortable journey. Eventually companies offered air-conditioned cars which made the trip even more enjoyable.
Amesbury became the hub of all the trolley connections in the eastern Merrimack Valley and the southern seacoast area of New Hampshire. Amesbury its self was once the home of carriage makers, and once the early trolley companies and horse car companies started, manufacturers turned to making trolley cars. These companies flourished right up until the automobile came along, and very interestingly Amesbury was once considered a candidate for the early automobile industry. How different this area would have been if that had been the choice.
Anyway, back to my sleuthing on the old tracks. The line came in from Merrimac where I lived. The car barn was located where the town police and fire station is today. They renovated the building about 30 years ago as it sat derelict for quite a number of years. The line from Merrimac to Haverhill, where I live today, ran along Route 110 by Kenoza Lake and terminated in Monument Square. This area is not too far from where I live, and interestingly there are still a few old sites left even today. If you were to drive north along Route 110 towards Merrimac and Amesbury, you can still see some of the ROW on the right hand side of the road. The poles are long gone, but the grade is still there. Up until recently, before the state widened Route 110 near Kenoza Lake, and the city worked on the embankment along the reservoir, the old ROW was visible there too. The rest of the area, however has lost its trolley history. I looked at Bing Bird's Eye view and couldn't see anymore remains. So much gets erased over the years.
It was a fun way to spend the afternoon while I ran a database repair.
John