Car barns and power house, Water Street, corner of Valley and Melvin Streets, circa 1895

Car barns and power house, Water Street, corner of Valley and Melvin Streets, circa 1895

Local transit -- Massachusetts -- Wakefield -- Pictorial works.

Wakefield (Mass.) -- History -- Pictorial works; Wakefield (Mass.) -- Aerial photographs.

Photo courtesy of the Wakefield Daily Item.

"The Wakefield & Stoneham Street Railway Company received its charter in May 1892, with the first car running along the tracks from Wakefield Square to Farm Hill in Stoneham on August 14, 1892. The system was originally powered by electricity purchased by the Citizens' Gas Light Company, the predecessor of the Wakefield Municipal Light Department. After the street railway line expanded to Lynn in 1893, a car barn was built on Water Street, at the corner of Valley Street in July 1893. The first car along that route ran on April 18, 1893. The street railway flourished with the expansion of the system and mergers with other companies, leading to the eventual building of its own power plant on Water Street in 1894. The power plant included two 'powerful' engines of 200 and 100 horse power, providing enough power for three generators: one 150 kilowatt, and two 'D.62.' Another 200 horsepower engine and two M.P. 100 generators were added soon after to meet the demand. During the spring of 1895, another car barn was added, housing a total of 50 cars. The rapid growth of the street railway system ended as quickly as it began. Lines began to be discontinued in 1918 and by 1930, busses [sic] had taken over nearly all the routes. In 1930, the former car barns and power plant were occupied by the Oxidite Paint Manufacturing Company and by the Curley Brothers for storage purposes." -- Text from calendar by Jayne M. D'Onofrio.

D'Onofrio, Jayne M.

[Wakefield, Mass.] :;Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department,

2003

Wakefield Municipal Gas & Light Department (Wakefield, Mass.)

Wakefield (Mass.) -- History -- Pictorial works; Wakefield (Mass.) -- Aerial photographs.