Portland Railroad - Congress Street Revisited: Monument Square to Union Station

Open-bench horsecar, probably built by J. G. Brill Co.,

Philadelphia, PA, on the Congress Street line at Union Station.

Union Station was built at the Crn. of Congress and St. John

Streets by the Maine Central Railroad opened for

business late in June 1886.  The Portland Railroad

extended the horsecar line from Longfellow Square

to Railroad Square and St. John Street in 1887.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_004

     Photo and research resources used in this blog post are courtesy of Seashore Trolley Museum's Library; specifically from the O. R. Cummings Collection and Phil Morse (PWM), and O. R. Cummings books, "Portland Railroad" Part 1, 1957, and Part 2, 1959.

     Monument Square in Portland, Maine was the hub for all the early horse-drawn and electric railway systems running into and out of Portland. This blog features the high-speed, luxury interurban, No. 14, Narcissus of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban (PLI) that is now being restored at Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. The Narcissus and nine other Maine vehicles used on electric railways have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Though we are deep into the research of information and materials related to the PLI and the Narcissus for use in creating the interpretation portion of the Narcissus project, it's too hard to resist posting other interesting electric railway tidbits from Maine's transportation history. With that in mind,  from 1914 until 1933, the Narcissus, as a PLI interurban, operated into and out of Monument Square to pick up and discharge passengers. As we approach Maine's Bicentennial year (2020), this blog will release posts that relate to many electric railway operations throughout the State of Maine. One of the first in the series will be a more comprehensive look at the Portland Railroad. The 470 Railroad Club in Portland will host a public presentation on the history of the Portland Railroad beginning at 7 p.m. on October 17, 2018, at 75 State Street, Portland, Maine; the entrance to the meeting hall is on Gray Street between Gray & Park Street.

     This blog post will be a bit of a teaser for that presentation at the 470 Railroad Club next month and will show a few images of the Portland Railroad system along Congress Street from Monument Square to Union Station.

     Click Here to go to the post: Portland Railroad - Maine Bicentennial - A History of Public Transportation 1860-1941

     Click Here to go to the post: Portland Railroad - Westbrook, Gorham & So. Windham Revisited

     Click Here to go to the post: Portland Railroad - Forest Avenue to Riverton Park Revisited

     Click Here to go to the post: Portland Railroad - South Portland & Cape Elizabeth Revisited

     Click Here to go to the post: Portland Railroad - Munjoy Hill Revisited

     Click Here to go to the post: Portland Railroad: Trolleys Through Scarborough, Maine

Horse-drawn trolleys were known as horsecars during the

horsecar transportation era in Portland, Maine 1863-1896.

Here a horsecar travels along Congress Street as

it enters what was City Hall Market before the building being

raised in 1888. What we know as the Victory Monument

in Monument Square was in place by 1891, the same year

the electrification of Portland Railroad trolley lines began.

Electrification of Congress Street for use during the

electric trolley-car era in Portland (1891-1941) was completed

by late October 1895.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_098

At Union Station. Take a little bit longer and look at the train station

canopy in the background. Does it look familiar? In recent

winters have you gone ice skating at the rink at

Thompson's Point?  Over this past couple of summers

have you attended  outdoor concerts at

Thompson's Point in Portland? Scroll through the images

on the Thompson's Point website and you will see

the metal canopy that was originally connected

to Union Station and protected the trains and

passengers from the elements. Passengers like

Theodore Roosevelt on occasion including

on August 31, 1916, when he traveled to Portland

to then board a Portland-Lewiston Interurban to travel to

Lewiston.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_003

Here is an image of President Theodore Roosevelt's

train at Union Station in August 1902. The

image is on eBay. The canopy seen in the photo is

the same canopy that is at Thompson's Pont!

Open-bench horsecar, probably built by J. G. Brill Co.,

Philadelphia, PA, on the Congress Street line, believed to be

 on St. John Street in front of Union Station. The destination

sign on the front of the roof is marked, Fort Allen Park,

which is at Eastern Promenade on Munjoy Hill.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_006

Horsecar on Congress Street as it passes by the turn for

Middle Street (the Middle St. area is now an open public

space for pedestrians) to enter Monument Square on

is on its way to Munjoy Hill.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_092

Here a horsecar enters Congress Street from Middle Street

at Monument Square. Compared to the image above,

note the changes in the number of

trees and in the buildings along Congress Street.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_093

At what is now 585 Congress Street, a horsecar travels

towards Union Station.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_090

A team of eight horses pulling workers in track work cars

in front of what is now the Starbucks at 594 Congress

Street. Free Street passes behind the building

seen in the background.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_052

Horsecar on Congress Street at Longfellow Square.

Here is a Longfellow Square tidbit that kinda, sorta, has

a fun/interesting Narcissus side story. Theodore Roosevelt

was a passenger on the Narcissus from Lewiston to Portland

on August 18, 1914. Not long after Theodore Roosevelt

passed away in January 1919, the Theodore Roosevelt

International Highway came into existence. The 4,060-

mile-long highway starts at Longfellow Square in Portland,

Maine and basically is now what we know as Route 302

(Roosevelt Trail) and has a stretch in Ontario, Canada, and 

travels all the way through the states bordering Canada

to Portland, Oregon.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_038

A team of eight horses was needed to pull this horsecar as it

travels up Congress Street past the Victory Monument at

Monument Square is on its way to Munjoy Hill.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_094

      By 1890, the year before the start of electrification of the Portland Railroad divisions, there were fifty horsecars, both open and closed, on the roster along with two-hundred and twenty-five horses that were owned.

The transition from horsecar to electric cars did take some

time. The Westbrook line of the Portland Railroad was

electrified before the Munjoy Hill section in Portland.

Most of the early electric cars for Westbrook operations

were kept in the Beckett Street carbarn on Munjoy Hill.

Here is an image of horses towing an electrified

trolley from the Beckett Street carbarn on its way to

Monument Square. Monument was electrified and

the Westbrook-bound car could then be used on the Westbrook

line. This horse transfer lasted until 1895.

Courtesy of  O.R. Cummings' book,

"Portland Railroad - Part 1" April 1957.

 
Folks at the Portland Railroad (PRR) ticket office at
Monument Square awaited their electric trolley bound for
any number of different destinations; Old Orchard Beach,
Saco, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, Gorham,
Westbrook, South Windham, Yarmouth, Falmouth, and
connections through the greater Portland area in addition to
the PRR connects to other trolley lines for folks to travel to
Lewiston, Augusta, Waterville, and many other communities
connected to those cities.
At its height, the PRR had 100 miles of track owned and 217
passenger trolley cars, employing more than 500 persons,
including 133 motormen and 133 conductors.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_133

Monument Square circa 1910 - Congress Street to the left

heading up to Munjoy Hill, with Middle Street to the

right taking passengers to the Grand Trunk Railroad

station or other trolley destinations served by the PRR.

Image from a print in PWM Collection.

Congress Street was a major attraction for folks who wanted

to go shopping. There were offerings in the city that were

not available anywhere in local outlying

communities. Trolleys were the most reliable and convenient

way to travel to Portland in the late 19th and early 20th 

century.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_081

Congress Street intersection for High Street and Free Street.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_054

Longfellow Square - and automobiles.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_047

Automobiles in the parking lot at Union Station became more
prevalent over the years.  Trolley ridership had been in decline
for many years leading up to the time this photo was taken.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_016

Monument Square with the Federal Street track in the
foreground - center and Middles Street to the far left
corner. Abandonment of various lines of the PRR began
in 1931, though a reduction in equipment had been
steady throughout the twenties. The Congress Street line
of the PRR trolley cars came to an end on Christmas Eve
1940 and the remaining four trolley car lines
of the PRR came to a close in May 1941.

Courtesy Seashore Trolley Museum Library:

O. R. Cummings Collection 2009_2_32_187

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We continue the restoration work on the 1912, Narcissus, the only surviving high-speed, luxury interurban coach of the Portland-Lewiston Interurban. 

Click Here: Narcissus Restoration-Related Posts

Being more than a century old, the stately, "Elegant Ride," Narcissus, is a gem.  This shimmering precious stone of Maine transportation history is brilliantly resplendent as it emanates so many elements of history, including; time, places, people, and events, that it was coupled to, that when just a smattering of its seemingly innumerable stories are shared, the contents captivates, fascinates, then generates, interest to learn more 🙋. The majestic Narcissus is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Please consider joining the epic journey to complete the Narcissus Project by making a donation today!

Click Here: Donation Options

The restoration of this majestic icon of Maine's electric railway history is but one in a series of captivating stories containing an abundance of incredible coalition of narratives.

Click Here: History-Related Posts - Narcissus and Portland-Lewiston Interurban

     The Narcissus is featured in the national Gold Award-winning novel, Teddy Roosevelt, Millie, and the Elegant Ride. The "Elegant Ride" is the Narcissus. Theodore Roosevelt was a passenger on the Narcissus on August 18, 1914, between Lewiston and Portland, Maine, while campaigning for the Progressive Party candidates.

Click Here: Bookstores and Businesses promoting the Narcissus Project

Independent book publisher, Phil Morse, holding

the Gold Book Award Winner plaque for

 the Middle Reader category for The Eric

Hoffer Book Award. Congratulations to

award-winning Maine author,

Jean M. Flahive