When Trolleys Ran On Hay
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Changing Uses, Changing Names

When Trolleys Ran On Hay, also, Changing Uses, Changing Names. . , When Trolleys Ran On Hay , Somerville was home to the nation's first horse-drawn passenger rail line, running from Harvard College to Union Square Station circa 1850. Later the city was crisscrossed by individual horse-drawn trolleys. Somerville's hills put such a strain on the horses that each time the trolley climbed a hill, half the passengers had to jump out, climb to the top, and clamber in again. In winter, trolley floors were strewn with hay to help passengers warm their feet. Smudge pots provided extra warmth but often set the hay on fire. Photograph courtesy of the Somerville Museum, Changing Uses, Changing Names , When America was new, people felt free to name and rename the landmarks around them according to changing uses. In the 1700s, what we call Union Square began as "Sand Pit" Square, because local glassmakers dug the sand they needed on the spot. After the War of 18 12, the site housed Somerville's volunteer fire company, whose flagpole prompted a new name: Liberty Pole Square. In the 1860s, it became the city's central site for recruiting Union soldiers for the Civil War. More than 1,000 local men enlisted - and Union Square was the name that finally stuck. Photograph courtesy of the Somerville Museum