Union Street Railway Company Explained

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.

History

It operated a railway post office streetcar route connecting New Bedford and Fall River to the main railroad station in Providence, RI.^[2] 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]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Union St. Ry. 34 - Seashore Trolley Museum . 2023-08-14 . collections.trolleymuseum.org.
2. Web site: Union Street Railway RPO 302 – The Shore Line Trolley Museum – A Museum in Motion . 2023-08-14 . en-US.
3. Book: Museum, New Bedford Whaling . Treasures of the Whaling Museum: Touchstone to the Region's Past . 2015 . Old Dartmouth Historical Society . 978-0-9845534-6-4 . en.
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 . 15 December 1901 . 879 .
5. https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/78000431 NPGallery Digital Asset Management System