Turner's Public Spirit, February 12, 1921
A look back in time to a century ago
By Bob Oliphant
“Center. In spite of February’s shortness of days many famous men claim it as the month of
their birth: Dr. Grenfell of Labrador fame, Joseph C. Lincoln, author of Cape Cod Tales, Henry
W. Longfellow, children’s poet, Thomas A. Edison, the electrical wizard, Charles Dickens,
Daniel Boone and many others. Let our public library tell you more of these and of others by
means of pictures and books which are waiting for you.
“Mr. and Mrs. Oscar R. Spalding and Mrs. John S. Grieg plan to start next week for a trip to
California. They have a most interesting itinerary mapped out and will be gone for a number of
weeks.
“A large number of women are planning to attend the town meeting Monday. There are 43
articles in the warrant and a high tax is prophesied for the year.
“Tadmuck Club. A very pleasant and profitable meeting of the Tadmuck club was held
Tuesday afternoon at the Unitarian parlors. Harold O. Cook, chief forester, gave a good address
on state forest conservation and … made its importance plain. Miss Emily F. Fletcher followed
with a list of flowers and shrubs that especially need care in conserving, with handsome mounted
and pressed specimens of most of them. The arbutus, stemless cup, fringed and closed gentian,
yellow lilies and laurel were specially noted….
“About Town. Ralph P. Cutting, who owns the Amesbury farm on Main street, is engineer
on the freight train leaving Lowell for Ayer at six a.m. Mr. Cutting goes back and forth to Lowell
by auto, morning and evening. He is raising milk for the Lowell market as a specialty. He has
had considerable experience in farming life before coming to Westford or as an engineer on the
railroad.
“The mill at Brookside has been running five days a week under the always efficient
management of the Abbot Worsted Co., who have done so much to take over and make over
Brookside village. The clubhouse as a part of its newness is open Wednesday evening for people
to get a move on to see the movies. So far it has been a full house.
“Article in Town Warrant. The most important event in town will be the annual town
meeting with more than the usual business in the warrant…. Aside from the usual articles there
are about 14 articles that doth not appear every year. The following are some of the more
important ones:
“Art. 20. Relating to establishing headquarters for post 159, A.L. [American Legion].
“Art. 23. To see if the town will make improvements on the cottage house near [the] firehouse
[now the Westford Historical Society and Museum office, 4 Boston Road].
“Art. 24. To appropriate $2000 to purchase a motor hearse.
“Art. 26. To hear of report of committee in regard to purchasing supplies by an agent.
“Art. 30. To empower the school committee to make a new contract with the trustees of
Westford academy in providing a high school.
“Art. 31. To see if the town will draw up a set of by-laws.
“Art. 32. To see if the town will increase the pay of the assessors over the pay allowed by law.
“Art. 33. To raise money to repair Groton road with macadam pavement.
“Art. 35. To see if the town will appropriate $550 for band concerts.
“Art. 36. To establish a salary of $50 for the game and fish warden.
“Art. 39. To see if the town will contribute towards the running expenses of the branch line of
the Lowell and Fitchburg electric railway.
“Graniteville. A ladies bowling team is being formed here and they would like to arrange
matches with some of the girl teams in Ayer and North Chelmsford. Address, C. Richard,
Graniteville.
“The Abbot Worsted Co. soccer football team did not play last Saturday, but if good weather
prevails, they will probably be able to finish their schedule. They have still three remaining
games to play and with the strongest clubs of the league….
“There appears to be a certain gang of young men here who are causing a great deal of trouble
of late. On last Monday evening when Dr. Blaney of Westford was making a call here someone
took his auto for a joy ride and ran the machine into the stone wall in front of the Abbot mill. The
auto was badly damaged and was taken to the Furbush garage for repairs The occupants of the
car made their escape without being seen, but the local police have a strong suspicion of the
guilty parties and it is expected that they will soon be rounded up.”
Taken on Brookside Road in 1912, this trolley ran from North Chelmsford to Brookside where
riders could walk across the B&M railroad tracks to take the Branch Line trolley to Westford
Center. Courtesy Photo / Westford Historical Society.
Almost 100 years ago, Westford had three railroad lines with eight stations and two trolley routes in town. The main trolley line which opened May 31,1906 was an interurban line which ran from Ayer to N. Chelmsford. The back section of the building at 2 East Prescott Street housed the electrical equipment for the trolley, converting electricity from AC to DC for trolley use. At one time Joseph Connell was the caretaker of this power station. On the stretch from Forge Village to Graniteville, the trolley tracks ran parallel to the railroad, coming out between 94 and 98 N. Main. It then went along North Main Street, down Beacon and crossed Nutting Road where the old bridge abutment still exists. Next it crossed Dunstable, Tyngsboro and Forrest Roads, eventually coming out on Groton Road (Rt. 40), to connect with the Boston and Northern Street Railway Company at North Chelmsford. Cars operated in both directions almost hourly. According to Arnold Wilder in an interview with June Kennedy, “The mill workers in town would go to Lowell once a week, on Saturday. The schedule was such that they would work from six until twelve on Saturday, have time to go home and get their clothes changed and catch the one o’clock car [trolley] for Lowell, or train.”
The other line in town was a branch line which opened on May 25, 1907. It started at the Triangle Store on Groton Road in West Chelmsford, went to Nabnasset and then to the Brookside Mill area and stopped. B&M officials would not allow the trolley to cross their railroad tracks. Passengers were required to cross the tracks on foot and hop on another branch trolley that would then travel from Brookside, along Lowell Road, up Cummings Road to Depot Street and finally to its terminus in front of the J. V. Fletcher Library on Main Street.
Imagine the surprise of the two school teachers at the Tadmuck School (20 Boston Road) that day in May 1907 when they went to call their students in from recess and not a one was in sight. They were all at the town common, acting as an impromptu Reception Committee for the trolley!
Several Westford men worked on the line as conductors or motormen, among them Alfred Tuttle who lived at 14 Boston Road, J. Edward “Hunka” Clement, afterwards a School Bus operator. Walter Cutter and J. Edward Sherlock were featured as the crew in an early photograph near the Fletcher Library. Lastly, Ed Szylvian, of Westford, remembered Jack Daffy as one of the conductors. Jack would later be a ticket taker at the Ayer Playhouse theater.
In December 12, 1911, the “Westford Wardsman” reported that “The trolley cars have been crowded during this week, many people from this village going to Lowell and Ayer for their Christmas shopping.”
The years of trolley service were not many. In order to entice ridership, amusement parks such as Whalom Park, Canobie Lake Park, and Lakeview were built to become weekend destinations. Our summers are too brief, and even that didn’t create enough business, and ridership continued to