Union Street Railway Company

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A photo taken by Lewis Hine in 1911 with a streetcar in New Bedford. Young messenger in New Bedford. LOC nclc.03743.jpg
A photo taken by Lewis Hine in 1911 with a streetcar in New Bedford.

The Union Street Railway Company (abbreviated Union St. Ry.) was a streetcar company centered in New Bedford, Massachusetts. It was formed from the New Bedford & Fairhaven Street Railway in 1887. [1] It started using electric streetcars in 1890. [1]

History

A streetcar on Purchase Street depicted on a postcard. Purchase Street, New Bedford, Mass (68412).jpg
A streetcar on Purchase Street depicted on a postcard.

It operated a railway post office streetcar route connecting New Bedford and Fall River to the main railroad station in Providence, RI. [2] [1] The whaling agent and merchant Jonathan Bourne Jr. (1811—1889) directed the Union Street Railway Company in addition to other ventures. [3]

As of 1901, it owned 31 miles of track in New Bedford and its suburbs and operated 70 cars in the summer and 39 in the winter. [4]

The Union Street Railway Carbarn, Repair Shop was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Union St. Ry. 34 - Seashore Trolley Museum". collections.trolleymuseum.org. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  2. "Union Street Railway RPO 302 – The Shore Line Trolley Museum – A Museum in Motion" . Retrieved 2023-08-14.
  3. Museum, New Bedford Whaling (2015). Treasures of the Whaling Museum: Touchstone to the Region's Past. Old Dartmouth Historical Society. ISBN   978-0-9845534-6-4.
  4. "The New Bedford & Onset Street Railway: Street Improvements Power House Car Barn at Wareham Car and Car Equipment Eight Wheel Snow Plow Signal and Dispatching System Personal". The Street Railway Review. 11 (12): 879. 15 December 1901. ProQuest   574933531.
  5. NPGallery Digital Asset Management System