The Cambridge Railroad (also known as the Cambridge Horse Railroad) was the first

street railway A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

in the Boston, Massachusetts area, linking

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

to Cambridge Street and Grove Street in Boston's West End, via

Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Avenue may refer to: * Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston), Massachusetts ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station), a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station), a stati ...

, Main Street and the

West Boston Bridge The Longfellow Bridge is a steel rib arch bridge spanning the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bridge carries Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, the MBTA Red ...

. The company was chartered and incorporated May 25, 1853, and started construction September 1, 1855. The horsecar line opened between West Cedar Street (just east of Charles Street) and Central Square on March 26, 1856. Extensions opened in April to Brattle House in

Brattle Square Brattle is one of the settlements making up the dispersed village of Woodchurch in Kent, England. It is at the southern apex of the triangle of roads which are the main village. Derivations The surname Brattle is of geographical, place name orig ...

and to

Revere House Revere may refer to: Brands and companies *Revere Ware, a U.S. cookware brand owned by World Kitchen * Revere Camera Company, American designer of cameras and tape recorders *Revere Copper Company * ReVere, a car company recognised by the Classi ...

Bowdoin Square Bowdoin Street in Boston, Massachusetts extends from the top of Beacon Street, down Beacon Hill to Cambridge Street, near the West End. It was originally called "Middlecott Street" as early as the 1750s. In 1805 it was renamed after the Governor ...

. A further extension to

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

opened soon after, as did a branch to

Porter Square Porter Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard and Davis Squares. The Porter Square station serves both the MBTA Red Li ...

. The connecting Watertown Horse Railroad opened on April 27, 1857. The Porter Square branch was extended to the border of West Cambridge (now Arlington); there it met the West Cambridge Horse Railroad, which opened on June 13, 1859. The line beat a rival company by buying

secondhand Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps. Risks Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...

cars from the

Brooklyn City Railroad The Brooklyn City Railroad (BCRR) was the oldest and one of the largest operators of streetcars (horsecars and later trolleys) in the City of Brooklyn, New York, continuing in that role when Brooklyn became a borough of New York City in 1898. ...

. For the first two months, no fares were charged, making the line very popular, with over 2000 passengers per day within a week. When it started to charge fares, the public was outraged, many calling for the franchises to be revoked. From its incorporation, the Cambridge Railroad was leased to the Union Railway for 50 years, later passing under control of the

West End Street Railway The West End Street Railway was a streetcar company that operated in Boston, Massachusetts and several surrounding communities in the late nineteenth century. Originally an offshoot of a land development venture, the West End rose to prominence ...

in 1887 and the

Boston Elevated Railway The Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) was a streetcar and rapid transit railroad operated on, above, and below, the streets of Boston, Massachusetts and surrounding communities. Founded in 1894, it eventually acquired the West End Street Railwa ...

in 1897. The main line from Harvard square to Boston was electrified February 16, 1889, with most of the other former Cambridge Railroad lines following by the early 1890s. The mostly-underground Red Line subway opened March 23, 1912 and provided a much faster route from Harvard Square to downtown Boston, but streetcars remained in service for local traffic. Streetcar service from Cambridge to Boston (using part of the original Cambridge Railroad route on Massachusetts Avenue) last ran September 11, 1949; the former Cambridge Railroad streetcar route from Harvard north to Porter Square remained in use until September 5, 1958.

References

Railroad History Database
*

William D. Middleton William D. Middleton (March 25, 1928 – July 10, 2011) was an American reporter, writer and photographer. The majority of his work was on the subject of railroad history and operation. He published over 20 books and approximately 700 articl ...

, ''The Time of the Trolley'', 1967, pages 15–16 Streetcars in the Boston area Defunct Massachusetts railroads Defunct public transport operators in the United States Harvard Square {{Massachusetts-transport-stub

See also

References