Pelham-Related Franchise Records of the Westchester Electric Railroad Company - Part 1

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There was a time when Pelham, like so many other New York suburban communities, was criss-crossed with trolley tracks that carried clattering trolley cars throughout the town. For the next several days I will transcribe many of the early franchise records of the Westchester Electric Railroad Company, a street surface railroad corporation that operated trolleys in communities that included Pelham in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For today's Historic Pelham Blog posting I have transcribed one of the most significant such records: the company's "Statement of Extension of Route in Pelham Manor, filed December 11, 1895". This is the origin of the trolley line that inspired the famous "Toonerville Trolley" that appeared in Fountaine Fox's long-running comic strip "Toonerville Folks". The text of the record appears immediately below.

" (21a) Statement of Extension of Route in Pelham Manor, filed December 11, 1895, covering route of Consents (10) and (21).

The Westchester Electric Railroad Company, a street surface railroad corporation organized and existing under the Laws of the State of New York, by its Vice President, who is duly authorized to make this statement, hereby certifies, pursuant to Section 90 of the Railroad Law, that it proposes to extend its roads and to construct branches or extensions thereof, and it hereby states the names and description of the streets, roads and highways in, along or upon which it proposes to construct, maintain and operate such branches or extensions, viz. :

From the junction of Pelhamdale Avenue and the old Boston Turnpike through and along Pelhamdale Avenue to the Boston Post Road; thence through and along the Boston Post Road to the boundary line of the village of New Rochelle; and also from the junction of Pelhamdale Avenue with the Boston Post Road, through and along Pelhamdale Avenue to the bridge of the Harlem river branch of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, through and along Pelhamdale Avenue to the Shore Road, and thence through and along the Shore Road to the boundary line of the village of New Rochelle.

Dated December 2, 1895.

Westchester Electric Railroad Company,
[SEAL.] EDWARD A. MAHER, Vice-President.

Endorsed:
WESTCHESTER ELECTRIC RAILROAD COMPANY.
Certificate of Extension.

STATE OF NEW YORK, }
Office of Secretary of State,

Filed and recorded Dec. 11, 1895,

ANDREW DAVIDSON,
Deputy Secretary of State.

STATE OF NEW YORK. } SS.:
Office of the Secretary of State.}

I have compared the preceding with the Certificate of Extension of Route of Westchester Electric Railroad Company, filed and recorded in this office on the eleventh day of December, 1895, and do hereby Certify the same to be a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole thereof

WITNESS my hand and the seal of office of the Secretary of State, at the City of Albany, this Seventh day of June, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight.
ANDREW DAVIDSON,
Deputy Secretary of State.

STATE OF NEW YORK, }
Office of the County Clerk } ss. :
of Westchester County,}

I have compared the preceding with the original Certificate of Extension filed and recorded in this office on the 21 day of December, 1895, and do HEREBY CERTIFY the same to be a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of such original.

[SEAL.]

IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my official seal this 4 day of March, 1903.

LESLIE SUTHERLAND,
County Clerk of Westchester County."

Source: The Westchester Electric Railroad Company Franchise Documents, pp. 186-87 (June 1, 1903).

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Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
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