Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Wakefield, Mass.

Title

Albion and Main Street, 1902

Description

"The success of the street railway system led to double-tracking of the rails from downtown Wakefield to Melrose in 1901, and on Albion Street in 1902. According to news reports, the double-tracking on Albion Street was 'a difficult proposition, for many elm trees that had stood for decades had to be removed. As in the case of Main Street it was evident that a busy thoroughfare was no place for the thrifty growth of shade tress.' It went on to state that paved streets, concrete sidewalks, trolley wires, street railway feed lines, telephone wires, etc. were 'not conducive to the growth of such trees. One after another of these old trees have gone down and have yielded to the march of progress.' The Wakefield & Stoneham Street Railway Company was formed in 1889 and received its charter in May 1892. The two-mile route from the Post Office on Main Street at the corner of Albion Street (former Kingman Block) to Farm Hill in Stoneham began operations on August 14, 1892. The system experienced rapid growth, and eventually became a four-direction electric street railway system which enabled riders to travel to Lowell, Lawrence and Haverhill to the north; Malden, Chelsea and Boston to the south; Lynn, Salem, Beverly and Gloucester to the east; and Woburn, Winchester and Medford to the west. The original Wakefield and Stoneham Street Railway Company and other similar companies eventually merged until all became a part of the Boston & Northern Street Railway System, the Bay State Company, and eventually the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company. The line was discontinued on July 6, 1929."

Image from the Wakefield Municipal Gas and Light Department annual calendar, 2016

Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Historical Society.

Contributor

Institution: Lucius Beebe Memorial Library

Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.)

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

Coverage

Massachusetts--Middlesex (county)--Wakefield

Albion Street (Wakefield, Mass.)

Main Street (Wakefield, Mass.)

Date

1902

Format

image/jpeg

Publisher

Wakefield, Mass. : Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department

Subject

Local transit

Type

still image

Photographs

Original Format

1 picture: b & w

Extent

27 x 22 cm.