Photo of the Month

December, 2002

WORKERS REMOVE SNOW FROM TROLLEY LINE

BETWEEN BLOOMSBURG AND BERWICK, CIRCA 1908

The Bloomsburg and Berwick Electric Railway Company, organized in February 1899, initially conceived the idea of building a trolley line from Bloomsburg to Berwick. Failure to secure the needed right of way prevented the project from moving forward. However, the proposal still attracted the attention of possible investors. An important development that ultimately led to the construction of the Bloomsburg and Berwick trolley line was the merger of the Bloomsburg and Berwick Electric Railway Company and the North Susquehanna Transit Company to create the Columbia & Montour Electric Railway Company in October 1899. Construction of the route began in March 1901 which paralleled what is today the Old Berwick Road, passing through Espy and Lime Ridge. It reached Berwick at the end of December, and the summer of 1902 trolleys were using Front Street and went as far as the borough’s eastern boundary. One could travel from Berwick to Bloomsburg in an hour. This was a giant leap over the horse and buggy days.

In the next two years Bloomsburg would see further expansion of a trolley system with lines to Catawissa and to Danville by 1904. For further information about trolleys in the Susquehanna Valley see North Branch Trolleys by Gene D. Gordon, published in 1987.