This glimpse into the past has its origin namely with Edith Irwin. In the early 1900s, Edith lived in a then new house on Alexandria, Ohio's, west side. For her day, Edith dressed properly and modestly, but always liked her wardrobe to be current. She told me this story of how she went shopping before the automobile.
Granville had sought ways to connect themselves to lines of communication --the Granville Feeder Canal and the alignment of the Panhandle Route stand in witness -- but the interurban began in Newark and caused some concern in Granville. Because inexpensive commutes could be made to Newark, Granville businessmen believed they would lose their customers. There is also some evidence to believe that the students at Granville's centers of higher learning were also involved in the decision to connect Newark and Granville. Along the way is a prediction that one day, Newark and Granville would grow into a single metropolis. These arguments meant little for the interurban was begun.
The Newark and Granville Electric Street Railway
One source indicates that the Newark and Granville Electric Street Ry. began in Newark at the Baltimore & Ohio RR Depot at First and Yearly Streets. Another source indicates the main N&G depot faced the Courthouse on the square in downtown Newark. If the latter case is true, then the B&O Depot would have been at the end of a spur to satisfy the first source. That is not true either. A picture from circa 1902 shows the end of the tracks on Second Street in downtown Newark. Plainly visible in the background is the steeple of the Second Presbyterian Church on East Church Street. The Depot would have been on the northeast side of the square on Second Street near the current Midland Theater. The line then worked itself out of downtown Newark on West Main Street and continued down Main Street to Central City where it followed present day Cherry Valley Road and crossed the Raccoon Creek on the Showman Arch Bridge.
The Showman Arch Bridge was originally built to carry the Granville Feeder Canal over Raccoon Creek. It becomes obvious that by the time of the interurban, the Granville Feeder Canal was no longer in use. In fact, the Toledo & Ohio Central RR Field Engineer's Survey indicates the Granville Feeder Canal at the end of Clouse Lane was filled in by 1890. Because the T&OC built a trestle over the canal, this indicates that the canal was open in 1881 when the railroad was built. Because no facility was made to make the bridge movable, canal traffic could not have passed beyond the trestle. The Newark and Granville Street Ry began planning before the 1890 T&OC survey, so with these dates it is possible to estimate that the canal was filled, at least at the Granville end and the Showman Arch Bridge, in the early 1880s.
On December 28, 1889, The Newark and Granville Electric Street Railway was placed in operation from downtown Newark to a location on Centerville Street approximately where Clouse Lane intersects Centerville Street, or as it is called today, Newark-Granville Road. This is the same proximate location of the original canal port. That is where the N&G ran out of money, so they placed the system in operation to start making money. As revenues began to come in, the line was continued into Granville on Broadway with the station in the old Alexandrian Bank building, the current home of the Granville Historical Society. Shortly after, the tracks were run to Main Street and down the hill to the Toledo and Ohio Central Depot saving transfer passengers an uphill climb to downtown Granville.
All Those Names!
Along the route to Hebron, the CBL&N rides the canal berm.
By 1902, the Columbus, Buckeye Lake & Newark Traction Company was completed with a total of 34 miles of track from Columbus to Hebron, then north, along the old canal route, to Newark. The CBL&N actually leased the berm of the canal from the State of Ohio for the run from Newark to Hebron, following, more-or-less, the path of State Route 79. This eliminated grade problems, but because of the meandering of the canal, the road had 19 curves in the nine mile stretch between Newark and Hebron. By this time, a power generating station had been built at Hebron to furnish electricity for the route. Additionally, a substation was employed at Hibernia between Reynoldsburg and present-day Whitehall to provide power to downtown Columbus. There is a connection with the Columbus, London, & Springfield Railway to allow power transfer and the substation provides power back towards Hebron as far as Etna.
Railroads and the interurban preferred straight and level track. Hills cause problems with speed -- read timetables -- and can reduce the amount a car can carry. Curves just slow the interurban down. For this reason, access to the Ohio and Erie Canal berm was an expedient for the Newark-Hebron run, it was already fairly level and graded. Early on, the CBL&N made a decision to install a 'Dead Man's Switch.' While most curves between Newark and Hebron were gentle, some mischievous youngsters between Newark and Hebron tried their aim by throwing rocks at the interurban as it passed. One rock connected with the motorman's head knocking him unconscious. The throttle shut down when the motorman's grip relaxed and prevented the car from careening off one of the sharper curves while the car was travelling at a fairly high speed.
The CBL&N route along the National Road near Kirkersville.
For the Columbus-Hebron leg, the CBL&N followed the right-of-way along the National Road. This road was fairly straight and level through southern Licking County. This allowed those towns that were serviced by the National Road to grow and provided access to downtown Columbus with a minimum of maneuvering. In Columbus, there was a large interurban depot providing convenience to the passenger, whether for work, business, or pleasure. The greatest obstacles for the road was crossing Big Walnut Creek and Alum Creek, which the interurban did without problem. As an aside, the Columbus, New Albany, and Johnstown Traction Company started in Columbus with the goal of connecting Johnstown and northwestern Licking County to Columbus, but stopped in Gahanna. The Big Walnut Creek was as far as they got.
By 1903, a power generating station had been built at Hebron to furnish electricity for the route. The August 1, 1903, edition of the Street Railway Journal describes the CBL&N as the most important property of the syndicate that was forming under Tucker-Anthony, the value of which would be enhanced by the extension to Zanesville. This article also points out the N&G was sold to the CBL&N earlier in 1903 following a rebuilding of the route with heavier rail. In 1904, a 30-mile stretch was built from Newark, through Black Hand Gorge to Zanesville creating the Columbus, Newark, and Zanesville Electric Railway. Three interurban lines now existed under the Tucker-Anthony corporate umbrella:
- The Newark and Granville Electric Street Railway (N&G) - The interurban that started it all.
- The Columbus, Buckeye Lake, and Newark, (CBL&N) - named "The Pleasure Line" for the spur to Buckeye Lake.
- The Columbus, Newark, and Zanesville Electric Railway</b>, (CN&Z) - named "The Scenic Line" for the route through Black Hand Gorge.
The Tucker-Anthony Traction Syndicate had its headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. Another syndicate, Appleyard and Companies, was already working with Tucker-Anthony in 1903 to create through trains between Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Toledo. It should be noted that Arthur E. Appleyard was listed as the Vice-President of the road in 1903. Mr Appleyard is also the President of the Great Northern Construction Company, which oversaw the construction of the line.
Appleyard would come under legal scrutiny for some of his financial dealings with the German Bank of New York. Then, in 1906, the Indiana, Columbus, and Eastern Traction Company took in the Columbus, Newark, and Zanesville Electric Railway. In 1907, the Ohio Electric Railway Company leases the IC&E Traction -- formed from the Appleyard syndicate holdings -- and all goes well until... 1921, when the Ohio Electric goes bankrupt and returns the IC&E with the CN&Z to independent operation.
But wait, in 1925, IC&E sells the CN&Z which then becomes the Southern Ohio Public Service Company. Then, in January, 1929, the Southern Ohio PSC is abandoned to Columbus and the last car left Zanesville a month later. The interurban was gone.
CN&Z Combine asks, "Are highways paid for by those who use them?"
To the side of the owners and operators of the interurban, there were a lot of financial obstacles and public opinion to overcome. First, the interurban was built at a time when the only competition for roads was the horse. The interurban could dominate their world because they offered a service and a price favorable for their convenience. In return, the interurban funded itself. Investors paid for the materials and construction and expected a return on their investment from the revenues. On the other hand, the rise of the automobile in the 1920s was helped, at least in part, by the government. The government spent tax money on building and improving roadways that made personal travel and freight shipment easier for the automobile owner and more competitive for the interurban. The interurban syndicates asked for assistance in kind to help them maintain their roads and bridges. Instead, the automobile became the preferred form of transportation.
Second, cities became upset, rightly or wrongly, with the interurban. In order to subsidize passenger operations, the interurban, like their railroad cousins, relied on freight business to provide revenue; passenger service, generally speaking, was doing good to break even for the company. Since passenger service ruled the road during the day, freight and maintenance operations was night-time business. For motorists, the interurban disrupted traffic during the day and kept you awake at night. There was a general feeling in the cities that the world would be better without the interurban. In many places, the interurban accepted their invitation to leave and were gone by the late 1920s or early 1930s.
Idlewilde Park and Buckeye Lake
As the interurban established itself, it also started looking for additional sources of income. Minerva Park was just one such location in Columbus. The CBL&N was no exception and procured land the old Licking County Fairgrounds.
Idlewild Park started out as an ancient Moundbuilder earthwork that the early settlers called 'The Old Fort' under the belief that the whole purpose of the place was an Indian defensive position. The place was cleared of trees and became the Fairgrounds under the Licking County Agricultural Association. By the late 1800s, initial cries for preservation rang out. The Agricultural Association moved the fair, and in a fit of irony, an amusement park broke out! The CBL&N quickly turned this into a destination and it was popular among the elite and fashionable. Looking around for the bigger and better, land came available at Buckeye Lake for the CBL&N.
Buckeye Lake started as a swampy remnant of an ancient, pre-glacial river that cut through the middle of Ohio. The glaciers carved new topography leaving a large swamp where this mighty river once flowed. When the canal was planned, the need for a water source for the locks to raise and lower boats over the summit dividing the drainage districts of the local streams, creeks, and rivers. Buckeye Lake was dammed to about a five-foot depth and a feeder canal was cut to get the water to the canal. By the time of the CBL&N, the State of Ohio had turned Buckeye Lake into a state park. The CBL&N turned Buckeye Lake into a bigger, better destination.
The CBL&N soon turned Buckeye Lake into an amusement park with rides and galleries, a swimming beach, dance halls, and popular performers of the day. Much local history has been written on Buckeye Lake, so no effort will be made to duplicate this. Buckeye Lake's popularity did outlive the CBL&N and survived into the second half of the Century.
Hebron, Where the Action Took Place
The then-newly built Hebron Powerplant in operation.
While the main offices and car barn along with a power sub-station were located in Newark, the bulk of day-to-day work to support the interurban took place in Hebron. Hebron, a once prosperous canal town had fallen in both population and activity as the canal business dried up, so to speak. Hebron was also more-or-less located centrally to the CBL&N. Here is where Tucker-Anthony built their new powerhouse. A modern brick building with two wings, this building housed boilers for steam production -- and was sited there for the proximity to water -- steam-powered electrical generators, as well as the dispatcher's office. A separate gas pressure reduction and regulator building was built to handle the flucuating gas pressures in the transmission line from Newark. A coal dock was also built to store coal as back-up power should the gas fail.
One wing of the building held four boilers in two banks with a thick safety wall between. Three boilers were set to run on gas while the fourth was held in reserve as a coal-fired boiler. The three gas boilers were also convertible to coal. The other wing housed the electrical generators and power transmission equipment.
The dispatcher was perhaps the most critical member of the operations team. Before an interurban car could leave a station stop, the train conductor had to call the dispatcher to receive permission to move. The dispatcher would check the line ahead and clear or hold the car depending on whether the track ahead was occupied. A system of train orders was devised to ensure that the conductor read back the train order so that no communication error occured. Because of the effectiveness of the method used, a similar system is in use today at airport control towers for safety.
To the passenger, Hebron offered a choice. Another former rider of the CBL&N, Dorothea Lynd of Kirkersville, tells that as a young lady, it was a temptation to choose between going shopping in Newark or going for relaxation at Buckeye Lake.
At least by some timetables, the stop at Hebron required switching cars, whether it be to get off the Newark or Columbus car to transfer to Buckeye Lake, or some other combination of routes and transfers. Additionally, the Limiteds ran directly from Newark to Columbus and did not stop at Hebron. Either way, Hebron was an important community for operation of the system.
Operations on the CBL&N
At the heart of the interurban was daily operations. On one hand, we tend to think of public transportation as a public service, but the reality is that the interurban was a for-profit company intended to put money into the pockets of employees and investors. With this in mind, the interurban wanted to offer the maximum amount of service for the minimum cost. Trains ran hourly from Columbus and Newark with upgraded Limited service available for a premium price. Although this was a great convenience, there were times during the day of the week or month of the year when the cars ran fully loaded and times when they ran nearly empty. The following timetables show times, distances, and prices one could expect in the early 1900s.
Timetables and Fares on the CBL&N in 1903
Leaves hourly until 10:00 PM Fares/Round-trip Miles Population
Columbus 6:00 AM - / - 0 145,000
Capital University 6:25 AM 5 ¢ / 10 ¢ 4.2
Doneys 6:30 AM 10 ¢ / 20 ¢ 6.9
Reynoldsburg 6:40 AM 15 ¢ / 25 ¢ 11.1 400
Wagram 6:50 AM 20 ¢ / 35 ¢ 14.9 150
Etna 7:00 AM 25 ¢ / 45 ¢ 17.3 350
Kirkersville 7:15 AM 35 ¢ / 60 ¢ 21.9 300
Hebron (Transfer) 7:30 AM 45 ¢ / 75 ¢ 27.6 650
Newark 7:50 AM 60 ¢ / $1.00 36.9 19,324
NOTES:
1. Newark-Granville: 15¢ one-way, 25¢ round trip.
2. In 1904, the CN&Z began Sleeping Car Service between Columbus and Newark, 25¢ extra, and Columbus and Zanesville, 35¢ extra.
Leave Newark 6:00 0.0 36.9 7:50 Arrive Columbus
Hebron 6:30 9.3 27.6 7:30 Hebron
Kirkersville 6:45 15.0 21.9 7:15 Kirkersville
Etna (3) 7:00 19.6 17.3 7:00 Etna
Wagram 7:10 22.0 14.9 6:50 Wagram
Reynoldsburg 7:20 25.8 11.1 6:40 Reynoldsburg
[ Hibernia (1) ]
Doneys (2) 7:30 30.0 6.9 6:30 Doneys
Capital University 7:35 32.7 4.2 6:25 Capital University
Arrive Columbus 7:50 36.9 0.0 6:00 Leave Columbus
NOTES:
1. Hibernia is often listed as an interurban stop after Reynoldsburg heading into Columbus. Hibernia is now a ghost town located around the intersection of Main Street and Noe-Bixby Road in Columbus.
2. Doney's Station is located in Whitehall where the former C&O crossed Main Street.
3. Etna is the meeting point for the East- and Westbound cars.
4. Freight stops seemed more numerous along the route: Columbus - Capital University - Crumms (this is possibly another name for the stop at Hibernia) - Reynoldsburg - Wagram - Etna - Parkinsons (probably the intersection of the National Road and Watkins Road) - Kirkersville - Luray (at the intersection of the National Road and State Route 37) - Hebron - Buckeye Lake - Taylor's Bridge (location unsure, possibly a couple miles north of Hebron on the old Taylor farms) - Armstrongs (location unsure, possibly in the area of the current Indian Mound Mall) - Newark. Stops at Parkinson, Luray, Taylor's Bridge, and Armstrong seemed to be stops for freight only.
Armed with this information, we know that Edith Irwin can leave Granville 7:00 AM and arrive at about 7:30 AM. After a short wait, the car from Columbus arrives and boards, and Edith leaves Newark at 8:00 AM. A short 20 minutes later and we transfer at Hebron to the Columbus car and arrive at downtown Columbus at 9:50 AM. At this time, the interurban station was at 36 West Gay Street in Columbus between High and Front Streets. Here, the City of Columbus had a unique problem to surmount. Already congested with streetcar traffic, Columbus built an interurban loop that ran on Rich, Third, Gay, and Scioto/Water Streets. The interurban would enter the loop and circle until they reached their appropriate station. Besides the station at 36 West Gay, other interurban companies had their depots further down the street. To leave, the motorman would continue around the loop and exit where they came in. This station was in use until 1912 when a new station was built on the west side of Third Street between Rich and Town Streets.
After a couple hours of shopping, lunch is easily obtained. While downtown Columbus offered a variety of diners, if memory is correct, Edith enjoyed eating at Lazarus’ in-house restaurant, that is, after 1914. Lazarus offered a tearoom on the Fifth Floor, later renamed The Chintz Room, which would have certainly been right for Edith’s tastes. Then some last-minute shopping before catching the return car at 2:00 PM.
Edith is back in Hebron at 3:30 and arrives back in Newark at 3:50. At 4:30, the car leaves Newark for Granville returning Edith home for a 6:00 PM for dinner. In this way, many turn-of-the-Twentieth Century from outlying areas women stayed fashionable with the most current of styles. Likewise, Edith was able to enjoy a sophisticated style, even if just for a day. So, the next question becomes, 'How did she get there?'
Equipment of the CBL&N
The CBL&N's most photogenic car, #70, along the way (top)
and pulling out of the Columbus Interurban Depot years later (bottom).
1903 Car Inventory of the CBL&N
Hourly Service
- Four - 62' Barney & Smith Cars - 62 seats, baggage compartment, water cooler, restroom, smoker lounge.
- Four - 50' Barney & Smith Cars - 50 seats, baggage compartment, water cooler, restroom, smoker lounge.
Limited Service (Direct from Columbus to Newark and back)
- One - 62' Barney & Smith Parlor Car with Chair Seats.
Express Freight Service
- Two - 60' Barney & Smith Express Freight Cars
Summer Service (to accommodate extra traffic)
- Five - 62' Jewett Car Company semi-convertable cars (window glass is removable) with slat seats and a large center aisle to accommodate standing passengers.
N&G Line
- One - 50' Jewett Combination Car (Large baggage compartment with reduced area for passenger seating)
Newark City Service
- Six - 34' Jewett double-truck cars
- Ten - Single-truck open cars
- Two - 15-Bench Open Excursion Cars
NOTE: These numbers do not include any Trailers (unpowered passenger or freight cars) or Maintenance-of-Way cars (for example, catenary work or track repair).
Journals of the very early interurban era tout the CBL&N as the most modern, pleasant, and comfortable of interurban for the time. Even so, this would be compared to the horse and buggy travel on unimproved roads and not today's smoothly paved highways in automobiles with shock absorbers and rubber tires. In those times, streets, if they were paved, were more often than not paved with cobblestone or brick. There can be no doubt that the interurban was a better ride, comparatively speaking.
Edith Irwin would have spent her $1.00 on the hourly interurban and in return would have taken the hourly car, a Barney & Smith built coach. Barney & Smith had been building railroad cars in Dayton, Ohio, for some time. When the interurban came along, they competed openly with other start-up companies such as the Jewett Car Company of Newark, Ohio, or the McGuire-Cummings Car and Coach Company of Paris, Illinois. In either case, the car would have been largely constructed of wood, well painted, and finished with several coats of varnish. The seats would have been slatted wooden seats, not altogether different from a porch swing, unless she took the Limited. Since the suspension on the interurban was steel springs, the ride would have been rough and uncomfortable, especially in light of the clothing of the time. She would have been glad to return home to her favorite, a finely upholstered wingback chair that looked out her picture window.
Gone Are the Days...
Two cars pass at Wagram.
From time to time, initiatives come around to revisit light rail mass transportation. There are proponents and critics, some newspaper articles and public conversation, then the idea all goes away. Yet Licking County was a pioneer with the interurban, perhaps a turn-of-the-Twentieth-Century fad. The public preferred the automobile and before the first half of the Century passed, most interurban had stopped running. The capital investment in infrastructure became the profits of realtors, scrap dealers, and auctioneers as the companies sold out after spending a couple short decades trying to consolidate their holdings while remaining solvent. Several articles make a point of showing pictures of the Ohio and Erie Canal, National Road, steam railroads, and the interurban as an illustration of the progress made in transportation. Today, the Ohio and Erie Canal has been largely filled in and the T&OC mainline is a bike path... and we still complain when we enlarge roads to meet our needs. From time to time I stop by to see Edith Irwin, her body lies buried not far from my plot. I always reflect on this little vignette whenever I do.
Edith Scott Irwin was born in Indiana in 1884 to Canadian immigrants. She married St. Albans Township native Lawrence C. Irwin in 1907. This happy couple had two daughters, then tragedy struck. Lawrence developed tuberculosis and spent his final years in and out of the TB Sanitarium in Newark before dying in 1930. Edith raised her daughters by herself and loved to take them to Columbus to shop. During World War II, Edith was an Air Raid Warden and her daughters were active with the USO. At this time, her oldest met and married an Army Air Corp pilot who would go on to be a career officer. The youngest became a school teacher. Edith enjoyed hosting and attending teas, dinners, and a bridge club.
