Northeast U.S. Interurbans (Home)Please use your device in landscape view.
Northeast U.S. Interurbans (a.k.a. Streetcars or Trolleys)
Maps and Details on the Interurbans Systems in New York and New England
Did you know?
- At one time, nearly every city in the U.S. with population over 10,000 had at least one streetcar company. It is estimated that in 1920, 90 percent of all trips were by rail using 1,200 separate electric street and interurban railways with 44,000 miles of track, 300,000 employees, 15 billion annual passengers, and $1 billion in income.
- The interurbans seemed to fill a travel void for much of America. The interurbans were bright and clean, stopped almost everywhere, and ran far more frequently than the steam trains, for one car made a train. Once in town the cars usually operated through the streets and went right downtown. Extended further they could service rural communities, making regular travel to "the city" reasonable and connecting cities to their suburbs.
What Happened To Them All?
- Beginning around the end of World War I the industry began a decline, accelerated primarily in the 1920s by the growth in automobile ownership combined with state construction of durable concrete highways.
- Often these highways flanked the interurban lines, and in some cases the state would pressure the struggling interurban to abandon service so that the state highway could be widened after tracks were removed. As a result of this shift in transportation methods, the small and unprofitable lines were discontinued. By the 1930s, most of the interurbans had disappeared.
- In the 1920s, just about every metropolitan area in the country could boast interurban service but before the 1930s were over the interurban was almost dead.
A poignant reminder of what we have lost...
Interurban Railway Systems
How the automobile industry scrapped effective pollution free public transportation.
What Happened To Them All?
- Beginning around the end of World War I the industry began a decline, accelerated primarily in the 1920s by the growth in automobile ownership combined with state construction of durable concrete highways.
- Often these highways flanked the interurban lines, and in some cases the state would pressure the struggling interurban to abandon service so that the state highway could be widened after tracks were removed. As a result of this shift in transportation methods, the small and unprofitable lines were discontinued. By the 1930s, most of the interurbans had disappeared.
- In the 1920s, just about every metropolitan area in the country could boast interurban service but before the 1930s were over the interurban was almost dead.
Curious about Trains and Trolleys? (Read more here >)
New York State
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Vermont
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Connecticut
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Massachusetts
Sorry folks, I ran out of steam and never got around to doing Massachusetts. Most of these maps were created back in 2016 and somehow Massachusetts, the only remaining New England state fell by the wayside.
This may be of interest - an 1899 map of Massachusetts electric railways. Click on map to get full version...
..and of course here is the 1924 map (from the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection)
See how much was added since 1899?
New Hampshire
Interactive state map not yet available. Use the links listed below:
- Manchester and Nashua Area
- Portsmouth and Dover Area
- Western and Northern Areas
(Berlin, Springfield/ Claremont, Keene)
Maine
Interactive state map not yet available. Use the links listed below:
Rhode Island
Interactive state map not yet available. Use the links listed below: