The Modern Age: Electric Trolley

The Modern Age: Electric Trolley. Area 8. In 1908, Medina saw a new and modern mode of transportation arrive - the electric trolley. Originally known as the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway, the line paralleled the Railroad to Salt Works Road, crossed West Center Street along the canal. , The influential residents of West Center Street protested the laying of track on their stately and quiet residential street. This resulted in a reroute to Commercial Street where actual riots broke out at the news. Alas, the working residents of that street lacked power and influence, and the reroute was set. The line ran on Commercial and Main Streets to the four corners, turning east on East Center Street. There were stops at 420 Main Street at what was then Callaghan and Sutter's Store, and at a depot on East Center Street. Passengers could travel east to Rochester or west to Buffalo and point beyond. Looking to capitalize on this new fascination, the Medina Village Trustees actually gave permission to have trolley service on several village streets in the early 1900's. How fashionable that would have been! That plan , however, did not materialize. The line provided service for many years but use began to dwindle by the late 1920's. With increasing competition from automobiles and trucks, the line ceased service at midnight on April 30, 1931. , Laying track on North Main Street for the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway. Trolleys at four corners in downtown Medina. Above: laying track for the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway on Commercial Street. At right, the Trolley depot on East Center Street. , Albert L. Swett: Medina's Electricity Tycoon , Albert Lewis Swett, was born in 1850, one of 14 children - 6 of which survived to adulthood. When the Civil War broke out his father and his older brother enlisted in the army, leaving his mother and four children to carry on the farm work. Albert was the eldest of the four at only age eleven. At age 15, Albert L. Sweet took a job as a grocery clerk. He went on to many successful ventures including the A.L. Sweet Iron Works and A. L. Sweet Electric Light and Power Company. Creating and harnessing the power of Medina's Glenwood Lake and Waterport's Lake Alice, Sweet's company provided electricity for not only Medina and his factories but the surrounding villages of Albion, Holley, Brockport, Lyndonville, Somerset and Barker. A.L. Sweet died in 1924.