Bowling Green's Interurban & Rail Line

Bowling Green's Interurban and Rail Line. . , 1833 , After Bowling Green's found in 1833, the area was only accessible by foot or on horseback through the Black Swamp. The painting above ("Horses and Wagon Mired in Mud") is a depiction of life in the Great Black Swamp as illustrated by northwest Ohio artist William Kuhlman (1927-2015). , 1853 , Prior to Bowling Green being incorporated (1855), a plank road, similar to the one pictured below, was laid (1853) to Perrysburg (County Seat at the time) as the principal north-south link., 1874 , The first steam railroad, Bowling Green Railroad Co. (started by local interests; S.L. Boughton - President and General Manager, A.J. Manville - Vice President, Frank Beverstock - Treasurer, A.A. Thurstin - Secretary, with directors S.W. St. John, Henry Lundy, and J.R. Rudulph), was organized in 1874 to connect to Tontogany (where there was another line connecting to the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad). Adding the rail helped the political fight for the County Seat. In 1886, it was consolidated with C.H. and D. Railroad, pictured above., 1883 , Another steam rail line was built by the Toledo, Columbus and Southern Railroad, through the eastern side of Bowling Green, with service from Toledo to Columbus. A brick depot on E. Wooster St. is pictured below (1903), which was designed by Yost and Packard (architect for the Wood County Courthouse). Although the depot was torn down, the railroad is still active., 1884 , In 1884, the Gas and Oil Boom led to explosive growth (both people and factories), increasing the need for transportation options for freight and passengers. The picture below is of an old derrick in the early 1900s in Wood County., 1895 , In 1895, the Bowling Green Railroad was extended south from the area of today's City Park to North Baltimore. Above is a picture of the passenger station at the W. Wooster St. crossing. Passenger service continued from this station until 1966., 1902 , The north-south electric railroad line (interurban) started in 1902 and was run by Toledo, Bowling Green, and Southern Traction Company. The line ran from Toledo to Findlay, with tracks in the middle of Main St., and was powered by the Bowling Green electric light plant (located east of the tracks, between E. Court and E. Wooster St). In a 1908 picture (above), the camera was positioned on the roof of an electric interurban car, looking north from S. Main St. This also shows a busy Main St., bustling with horses and buggies., The east-west electric railroad line (interurban), operated between Bowling Green and Pemberville (by Lake Erie, Bowling Green, and Napoleon interurban), was also started in 1902. The company/ticket office is pictured below left, on the south side of W. Wooster St., where the old City Building peeks out just past the last building., 1930 , The passenger depot for the north-south interurban started at 109 N. Main St. Later it was in the Del-Mar Theater and after that building was destroyed by fire, the depot moved across the street to 170 S. Main St. (pictured). Freight and passenger service declined with the use of private motor vehicles and better roads. The interurban service officially ended in 1930 due to the deepening depression., 1978 , In 1978, the W. Wooster St. passenger station was moved to Carillon Park in Dayton, where it remains on display., 1995 , The steam railroad on the west side of Bowling Green operated for 103 years (1978). In 1995, the old railway became the Slippery Elm Trail.