Willimantic's Effort to get a Trolley
- Part 2 by Pete Zizka 3-25-2023 |
After the public hearing concerning the proposed
charter extension for the street railroad held in March, 1897, the Board
of Aldermen passed a resolution saying, basically, that it did not
object to a charter extension so long as a clause was added that a
section of the road be opened within two years. Nothing much happened
until October when it was learned that a group of New Jersey men,
“extensive owners and operators of trolley lines”, were now negotiating
for the franchise. The principal negotiator, a Mr. Beers from New York,
came to look over the city and then traveled to Coventry, claiming that
if “his people” bought the franchise, a line would be built to South
Coventry as well. Not surprisingly, Mr. Beers found the people there
“anxious for a trolley”. But again, nothing happened for over a year.
Then, in October, 1898, a Mr. Jesse Starr, another man whose business
was promoting street railroads and who represented a group of
capitalists already actively “developing, constructing and operating”
street railroads, purchased the franchise. With the purchase, the Street
Railway Company was reorganized with new incorporators. Several days
after the purchase, Mister Starr told residents that not only was a
trolley line a sure thing, but that “construction would be begun in a
few days”. The engineer who
would be in charge of the surveying and the line’s layout had come from
New York and was ready to begin work. Mister Starr went on to say that
his investors had already raised $15,000 and that the work would be
“pushed” in the fall and would then be resumed early the following
spring. According to Starr, the charter authorized capital of $300,000
which was “ample capital to build the line” and that it had been given
the right to “construct a line in Willimantic, the Windhams, Coventry,
Mansfield, Franklin and Sprague. It was felt that the line through the
center of Willimantic would be the one that “would pay” but that it
would be good to extend the line into outlying towns. Starr then became
very expansive, saying that he saw “a bright future for Willimantic”.
Despite Starr’s optimistic words and predictions, no work was begun. The
Chronicle had a great deal to say about this latest disappointment and
published a poem:
Twinkle, twinkle Jesse Starr, How we wonder where you are,
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