Blue Hill Street Railway


 Blue Hill Street Railway Trolley, ca. 1902-1903 (Dan Keleher Collection)

 

 Blue Hill Street Railway Trolley1

 

The trolley system that ran between Boston and Norfolk County was known as the Blue Hill Street Railway Co. that was chartered in 1899 by Charles A. Stone and Edwin S. Webster with $150,000 in starting capital and Charles H. French as president. In November 1899 service began running between Stoughton and Canton. Between 1900 and 1903 the railway system expanded its service which involved a merger with the Milton Street Railway in 1903, so that service could reach the city of Boston, to reach Mattapan and Readville. The trolleys ran every half-hour in the fall, winter, and spring with fifteen (15) minute service available in the summer at fares that ran between five cents 15 cents through the years, the Readville line which was used infrequently closed in 1915.

 

In the late 1910s the trolley system began to fail with the Norwood, Canton, and Sharon Street Railway closing in March 1918 and faced with a decrease in passengers the Blue Hill Railway sought financial assistance from the town of Stoughton but were turned down and the railway went into receivership. The company did receive financial assistance from the town of Canton, along with Sharon and Milton merchants who did not want to see the trolley service end. However the winter of 1919-1920 proved difficult for the railway and much of its equipment was damaged, unable to recoup the looses resulted in the Blue Hill Street Railway Co. being foreclosed upon in the spring. The trolley tracks were removed in 1922 and the Blue Hill Street Railway Co. was officially dissolved by the state legislature in 1931.

 

Resources1

 

The Blue Hill Street Railway by O.R. Cummings (Call No. Vault 388.4 C)