USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Winthrop > The history of Winthrop, Massachusetts ; 1630-1952 > Part 20
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-BOSTON, WINTHROP & POINT SHIRLEY,-
1848 TO 1872. Stage line, first started by Albert Richardson in 1848 from Maverick Sq., East Boston to Winthrop. Later ran to Scollay Square, Boston via the ferry making four round trips a day on week days and two on Sundays, taking hour and half each way. The driver above is thought to be "Lige" Tewksbury.
POINT SHIRLEY
1875. Horse cars on Revere St., looking north from Magee's Corner. Buildings on the right were the car barns at about the site of the present town sheds. This line ran from East Boston over Bennett's (now Main St.) bridge, along Pleasant St. to Winthrop St., to Shirley St. to Point Shirley from 1872 to 1877.
Reverend J. W. Dadmun was president and Dr. Samuel Ingalls, superintendent. These last two gentlemen, residents of Win- throp, were very highly respected and gave the management the standing necessary to attract local capital.
The promoters were willing to supply the brains and the knowledge, but they experienced much difficulty in persuading Winthrop people to pay up the necessary money. Finally on August 28, 1871, the town put up $20,000 to start the road oper- ating but was to receive seven per cent interest and a first mort- gage. The road was built and did start running but it was, at least to modern eyes, much over-capitalized and could not pos- sibly succeed with the small population Winthrop had then. No sooner did the road start than debt began to pile up and on July 24, 1873, despite objectors complaining that it was idle to 'throw good money after bad", the town meeting, July 24, 1873, voted 67 to 23 to supply $15,000 more, in return for stock. The town's people managed to protect themselves however, by having six leading men of the town personally pledge themselves as sureties. With this endorsement the money was paid over by the town.
The fare from Maverick to Winthrop was 25 cents, and to the Point 35 cents. The line appears to have carried about 65,000 a year which would mean a median income of less than $25,000 annually. After costs, interest, depreciation and the rest, it is doubtful if this was adequate. The line ran seven daily trips in summer and five in the winter. What happened in a heavy snowstorm is not on record; doubtless there were difficulties. One pair of horses pulled a car from Point Shirley to Magee's Corner and from there fresh horses pulled the car to Maverick and returned. The Reverend J. W. Dadmun, who was very promi- nent in town, had built himself a house on Winthrop Street (the one known as the David Floyd House) and lived in some style with attractive gardens. He was chaplain at Deer Island Prison and residents looked on with misgivings as each Saturday after- noon, a private horse car came to his door and carried him to the prison (at least to the Gut) and then, on Sunday afternoon, brought him home again. This was really something to do with the town's money !
It soon became clear that all was not well, indeed far from well. The road failed to pay its interest obligations and in 1875 town meetings were held to see what the town could do. Those who had money invested, suggested that the town pay the inter- est. The value of this was just that if the road failed, Winthrop would be left without any public transportation to Boston. Those who did not have money invested, demanded that the Town fore- close its mortgage and operate the line as public utility. The
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meetings were rather warm and cross-fire of arguments became personal and frequently descended to insult and invective. Fi- nally, after several inconclusive meetings, on December 6, 1875, the town moderator, Lucius Floyd, accepted a motion to put the problem to the vote: should the mortgage the town held be fore- closed ? Lucius Floyd called the roll name by name and the vote was 51 to 43 for foreclosure. Thus Winthrop became the owner of the horse car line.
At another town meeting, January 17, 1876, a motion was made that the town should proceed against the unfortunate six citizens who had pledged themselves as security of the second town loan of $15,000, but this was defeated by a vote of 44 to 17. The road was in a pitiful condition and nothing remained but to sell off the assets for as much as possible and so reimburse the town-if it could be done. Meanwhile, plans were broached for another stage line to carry passengers and the mails while plans for a steam railroad were being pushed. Many Winthrop citi- zens lost what was a great amount of money for the times. Her- mon Tewksbury was, in particular a large subscriber. Another large investor was George B. Emerson. He, however, managed early in the business, while the line was still "a going concern", to dispose of much of his stock for land on Nantasket. Mr. Tewksbury joined him in this enterprise.
The Town, which was then poor enough, felt the blow badly and as the tax rate went up to meet the cost of the line, the citi- zens paid and paid and paid until the last of the necessary "sinking fund" was retired in 1905. Negotiations to sell the line progressed slowly and poorly. No one wanted to pay any- thing for a line which had gone bankrupt. On February 14, 1876, the town voted to receive bids, thus bringing the matter to a head. Several offers were received but all were refused by the town meeting. Finally direct negotiations were held with S. G. Irwin and J. L. Putnam. These too fell through and the town meeting finally voted to sell the line at public auction and to take what it could get-provided that the purchaser would operate the line, or some other conveyance, for five years from Winthrop to Winthrop Junction, which was then used to describe Orient Heights where a railroad connection to Boston could be made. On January 1, 1877, Captain Samuel G. Irwin bought the line for $12! He had privately purchased the twelve horses, the cars, buildings and all the other equipment previously for $2600. So Winthrop cut its losses, provided itself with stop-gap transpor- tation and made do until June 7, 1877 when the first steam trains began to operate.
Captain Irwin then sold the horses and equipment, tore up the rails and disposed of the property. Winthrop's first railroad
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became but a sorry memory-and a few rotting ties here and there. During the year 1876, the stage and street car were run intermittently by the Railroad Company (for the Town), by Butman and Matthews, and by Irwin. A new stage line was also established in 1877, late in the year, which ran from Win- throp Junction, up Pleasant Street to perhaps Payne's Corner. Thus the west side of the town was served. This line, which was operated successively by C. N. George, Sam L. George and the Burnett Brothers, continued until 1888 when the steam rail- road built its loop all around the town. There was also, from time to time, even as late as 1910, coach or public carriage line from the Winthrop Beach railroad station out to the Point. Samuel L. George, E. W. Tewksbury and Noyes and Colby operated these, in turn.
The Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad, hereafter as was the common practice, called the Narrow Gauge, because of its 3-foot gauge, was chartered in 1872 and was built first as a single track from East Boston through Orient Heights, Revere Beach and Point of Pines to Lynn. It was first operated July 29, 1875. Hourly service was very successfully maintained. Win- throp's troubles with its horse car railroad having become by then acute and distressing, Winthrop became enthused over the prospect of having its own steam railroad which would have a junction at Orient Heights (Winthrop Junction) with the Nar- row Gauge.
The Boston, Winthrop and Point Shirley Railroad was ac- cordingly duly incorporated in 1876, the prime promoters being John L. Butman of Fitchburg and Samuel G. Irwin of Winthrop. A survey was run, that year, the line was laid out and construction undertaken immediately. The first steam train puffed along June 7, 1877 over the little line. This was the "peanut train" of affectionate memories. It ran only as far as between Win- throp Junction and the foot of Buchanan Street, halting at the edge of the marsh off River Road.
There were three stations: "Pleasant Street", where the later station was; "Winthrop", near Magee's Corner; and "Buchanan", where the line terminated for the moment.
The next year, the line was pushed across the marsh (the fill remaining for many years as the "dike" across the golf links). "Shirley Station", across from Buchanan Street, was built and the following year, 1879, the line was pushed along the beach towards Great Head. The tracks crossed Nevada Street, Cutler Street, Ocean Avenue and Irwin Street where another station was built and named "St. Leonard's", after the St. Leonard's Hotel, which is now known as the New Winthrop Hotel. Parenthetically, this huge wooden pile was built of wood
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taken from the Peace Jubilee building at Boston and brought down the harbor and into Crystal Cove on scows. Some reports say it was rafted down.
The railroad then crossed Sturgis, Underhill, Perkins and Tewksbury Streets where the "Great Head Station" was built. Nearby was the Lawrence cottage, which later became Young's Hotel. Construction continued annually. Charles Street was crossed as well as Moore and Beacon Streets and the line came out upon the beach and there "Cottage Hill Station" was built to accommodate a real estate development, begun before 1883, by William B. Rice, H. T. Whitman and others. By 1883 the road was carried around the eastern side of Great Head on a trestle and yet another station was built, called "Short Beach", which was about where the present Ridgeway House is today. Eventually the line was extended clear down to Point Shirley !
Meanwhile, in 1880, the route across the future golf links was changed and the line followed a route from where the present town sheds are now near Magee's Corner, by reversed curves eastward to Shirley Street near Neptune Avenue where the "Ocean Spray Station" was built, and then along the edge of Shirley Street to join the route previously described. Another branch line was proposed by Dr. Ingalls and others, to go south along Winthrop and Main Streets to about where Ingalls Station was later built and thence to "deep water" at the edge of the Bartlett estate, a distance of about a mile and a half. The road was incorporated with the title of the Boston and Winthrop Railroad, but it was never built.
Fares on the Narrow Gauge were: from Winthrop Junction (Orient Heights) to the Ocean Spray House Station, 10 cents, to Great Head Station 15 cents, and to Point Shirley 20 cents. Special through rates to Boston, including monthly commutation tickets, were provided.
This road, despite the need for public transportation, did not please the people of the town. Often, in winter, it did not operate at all. The late David Floyd wrote on this point: "Some- times the steam road was not operated in winter, and then the people depended upon the numerous vehicles that were run by the good natured and obliging Sam George. For some time there was uncertainty about the railroad tracks, which were made of pieces of angle iron fastened on the corners of wooden stringers ; and these had a way of gliding off on the marshes at high tide; and from first to last although its convenience was not questioned by those whom the route accommodated, a series of ups and downs marked its history".
From the beginning, several Winthrop people were associated with or employed by the road, and a few or these continued to be
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active until the final fatal day in 1940. Frank N. Belcher began to work on the road in March of 1883; his brother, Walter, at about the same time, and James W. Davis was one of the first engineers. Joseph J. Cyr, engineer, was one of the first men in the cabs of the Narrow Gauge locomotives, beginning in 1875, and John R. Sullivan, probably the most familiar of all Narrow Gauge men to Winthrop people, was an office man from the early days. When the Narrow Gauge finally ceased operation, Frank Belcher was still running trains as a conductor and John Sullivan was the superintendent.
Frank Belcher told Channing Howard (he and the late Frank Hanscomb) : "ran the road in the winter of 1885, paying the run- ning expenses which were just about covered by the fares re- ceived, but we had no salaries until business picked up in the sum- mer, when we received our salaries by deducting same from fares and turning in our salary receipts for the amounts which were due us instead of cash taken up by me on the train". In the winter of 1884 several Winthrop citizens, who wanted the early morning train to keep running, agreed with the road to guarantee 15 fares for each trip. At the end of several months, this group had to pay 70 cents each extra to keep their agreement. Business had extreme ups and downs. In contrast with less than 15 fares on the train just mentioned, on Saturday, July 21, 1882, the little line carried 1,850 passengers. Clarence A. Parks was president at first, and his son, Edwin, was a conductor and acting superin- tendent.
Winthrop for a time also had a standard gauge railroad. This was the Eastern Junction, Broad Sound Pier and Point Shirley Railroad ("The little road with the long name"), which ran from a connection with the Eastern Railroad (now the Portland Divi- sion of the Boston and Maine Railroad, via Newburyport and Portsmouth) in Revere to Point Shirley. The genius of this line was Alpheus P. Blake, who was an indomitable character. He not only conceived, pushed and built this particular line, but he was interested in other enterprises which he promoted with inde- fatigable zeal all along the North Shore. He was a man of strik- ing appearance, tall and thin, and possessed of remarkable per- suasive abilities. He was a poor boy from New Hampshire when he came to Boston and became interested in the development of what was then the new town of Hyde Park. From this he went on to take the leadership in the development of the North Shore, particularly between Boston and Lynn. He was doubtless a very able man, but he grew somewhat self-willed as success piled upon success and he began to quarrel with the directors of the Eastern Junction, Broad Sound Pier and Point Shirley Railroad, and, after
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three years, resigned as president and left the directors to do the best they might with the railroad. It was operating successfully when he quit but it soon after fell upon evil times and was even- tually abandoned.
The road was incorporated by the General Court in 1883 and was swiftly and not too well constructed, according to reports. The line came up from the Point of Pines, along Revere Beach and crossed the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn by means of a trestle at about where Eliot Circle is now, near the southern end of Revere Beach. Near this point the "Great Ocean Pier", some- thing after the order of the Steel Pier at Atlantic City, had been built and was being well patronized. From here the road went across the marsh below Beachmont Hill, where parts of the em- bankment are still to be seen. Running along Short Beach, it continued north of the farther Highland hills, along where Sewall Avenue now is, and then took to the beach again, at a point east of Grovers Avenue until it reached the later route of the Narrow Gauge. There was no bridge at the time, and the town, about 1885, built a timber bridge which was replaced by the present bridge built by the Metropolitan District Commission in 1899.
From this point the broad gauge line ran southwesterly to the then Ocean Spray Station of the Boston, Winthrop and Point Shirley (Narrow Gauge). Here, parenthetically, Dr. Samuel Ingalls was killed June 11, 1884-the man responsible for the development of Ocean Spray, the man that developed also the railroad which killed him.
From this junction, a three-rail line went along, the broad gauge line and the narrow gauge line sharing the same road-bed by the simple expedient of laying a third rail and using one outer rail of the three in common. It saved money! This unique sys- tem enabled the broad gauge line to reach the southerly section of Point Shirley at very small expense.
At first, as has been said, the broad gauge line was pros- perous. In the summers of 1884 and 1885 it carried thousands of patrons, being helped greatly by steamship connections. Steamers ran from Boston to the Point of Pines (then a charming place), and also to the Great Ocean Pier near Eliot Circle, from which also there was, from time to time, even as late as 1920, a line still running to Bass Point, Nahant. Another steamer line connected for Boston with the road at Point Shirley. Two steam- ers apparently made 11 round trips a day between the Point and Litchfield's Wharf at 466 Atlantic Avenue. The two, named the Philadelphia and the Baltimore, are described as having about 300 passenger capacity each.
However, despite its seeming prosperity, and perhaps be-
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LAIL RO
ABOUT 1880. Engine "Mercury" of the railroad which ran to Point Shirley. View looking northeast across Shirley St. to Bill Morgan's store on the east side of the street near Nevada St. The railroad ran across what is now the golf course, on a dike to the foot of Buchanan St.
ABOUT 1884. "Boston, Winthrop and Point Shirley R.R." train on south side of Cottage Hill at Ridgeway's Corner, looking north. Note the trestle skirting the hill. This trestle was washed out in a storm about 1885.
cause Alpheus P. Blake had withdrawn, the Eastern Junction, Broad Sound Pier and Point Shirley Railroad ceased operations after 1885. Probably there was no valid reason for its existence in the first place, for Winthrop was served by its own railroad, while the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn and the present Boston and Maine served Revere adequately. Actually, there were many little railroads and some longer ones, too, which were built in New England in the middle section of the 19th Century, which had no economic reason for being. They mostly failed at the expense of the too optimistic stockholders. Many people in the days of the great railroad boom had the fond hope that the steel rail was a magic wand which created business where none had existed-and where, hindsight demonstrated soon enough, none could exist.
Beginning in 1883 Winthrop's little railroad fell upon hard times and was variously reorganized until the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn took over. One of the leading movers in this consolidation was Samuel W. Hale, former governor of New Hampshire, who was said to own a majority of the Winthrop lines' stock. He had recently purchased a large part of Point Shirley, taking over the property of the Revere Copper Works, split it into small cottage lots and was busy having auction sales in 1884. The old road received a bad blow on Thanksgiving Day, 1885, when a great northeasterly raged. Much of the track of the line was along the beaches and so exposed to the fury of the tumultuous ocean. Probably a large part of the line, at least that along the beaches, was washed away.
For a time the peanut train was operated again as far as the trackage permitted, probably to Ocean Spray Station and then, as stated, in 1886, the Narrow Gauge took over. Edwin Walden of Lynn, president of the Narrow Gauge, and John A. Fenno of Revere, the treasurer, in the winter of 1885 walked the right of way and examined the entire town and determined it would be good business to add the Winthrop line as a branch of the trunk road. The legal tangle was unsnarled, proper Leg- islative sanction was obtained and on July 1, 1891, the merger was completed.
Meanwhile the Narrow Gauge had begun to build its "loop" around the town and this was completed in 1888. This line stayed inside the beaches and so was safe from storms. This was a one- track circuit and nine railroad stations were placed in operation -to serve which the town built five new streets. The loop flour- ished very well, so well that it was double tracked in 1903, giving Winthrop people the pleasure of deciding, when going to town, which train going which way they cared to take. Good cars,
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good service and a feeling of satisfaction that at last Winthrop had permanent transportation pervaded the town and helped to bring many new people into residence. Fares to Boston began at 20 cents, but in 1890 they were reduced to 15 cents, in 1894 to eight cents and in 1899 to five cents. Business was that good.
The first public indication of trouble appeared in 1918 when fares went to seven cents and then were soon boosted to ten cents. The railroad was electrified in 1928 in an attempt to cut expenses by eliminating the steam locomotives-those odd but pleasant little fellows that puffed and chugged so sturdily around town, day and night, on amazingly regular and dependable schedules. However, it has been alleged that the electrification was accom- plished at a cost described as being somewhat excessive, and the road continued to slide down and down. Various reasons were given, chief of which seems to have been a falling off of patronage due to the increased use of the private automobile. Costs of operation were high, too. The ferry system from East Boston to Rowes Wharf on Atlantic Avenue, was very costly.
To look back for a moment, probably everyone in Winthrop considered the Narrow Gauge with affection. It served us all so long and so well! In sad contrast with the present, there were always seats in the Winthrop trains; no one stood. The ride was smooth and adequately rapid and the ventilation was sufficient. Then that ride across the harbor was really a delight. On hot afternoons, coming home, particularly, the fresh harbor breezes, which swept through the ferries from bow to stern, revived the wilted commuters amazingly. The after deck, sheltered from the wind and the rain, was a sort of town forum where groups of men gathered for a smoke and to debate town affairs and to exchange news. It was altogether a delight to ride the Ashburnham, the Brewster, the Dartmouth and the Newtown-as the last four in the service were named. Good, study boats they were, too, navigating the harbor whatever the weather without fuss or bother. Their familiar walking beams pumped up and down; paddle wheels churned and they slid back and forth on a shuttle that seemed as eternal as taxes.
Thus, when beginning about 1938, it became known in town that the Narrow Gauge would find it necessary to close down unless aid was given, Winthrop people refused to believe it. The Narrow Gauge was just part of the scheme of things! It could not fail. Various proposals were brought up in Town Meeting again and again, but enough Winthrop citizens refused to believe what they were told. Finally, late in 1939 the management an- nounced they would close down soon after the first of the year, and warned the town to take steps to provide itself with public
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MARCH 1939. Descending the draw to the ferry boat "Newtown" at the East Boston slip of the "Narrow Gauge."
3 APRIL 1939. On the rear deck of ferry to Boston, on the way to daily business. Many topics of the day were settled here! Left to right are Chester J. Grant, Louis Cobb. Lewis M. Hollingsworth, Sidney Blandford, John T. Reed, Frank H. Jenkins. Frank Farquhar, W. Bennett, James M. Letson, Leland G. Floyd, Rich- ard R. Flynn, (unknown), Walter Anderson.
transportation. Despite the vital need for transport, for, as said, most of Winthrop goes into Boston of mornings and returns at night, nothing was done. Finally, early in January, the Narrow Gauge set the fatal date and then there was a mad scramble to do something.
Proposals ranged all the way from the town's purchase of the line to Orient Heights to bringing in the Boston Elevated. No one wanted the El, because of several reasons, most important of which were two: the El's habit of having huge annual deficits which were assessed upon the taxpayers of the towns and cities served, and also the really unpleasant and uncomfortable trans- portation provided in street cars and buses. Finally, just a few hours before the time limit set by the Narrow Gauge, the State Department of Public Utilities gave the Rapid Transit Company authority to operate a bus line from Point Shirley to Maverick Station of the East Boston Tunnel of the Elevated. Winthrop was shocked and stunned, not so much because of the fact that the fare to Boston would be doubled but because many still re- fused to believe that the Narrow Gauge would actually quit.
Most of us still remember that final train which circled the town late Saturday night, January 27, 1940. Normally the mid- night train, then the last from East Boston (later services op- erated only from the Heights) would take about 30 minutes at the most to make the loop. This trip took well over an hour as gangs of young men and some women, too, blocked the tracks at each station and the train was put into motion only with great difficulty. Probably there had never been so much patronage as on that train. When it left the Heights, it was literally jammed with patrons who wanted to say they had ridden on the final train. There was some vandalism; some windows were smashed, some seats were ripped out, and even a few normally law-abiding citizens helped themselves to mementoes. It was a most exciting ride.
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