Trolley Comes to Town
A trolley on Washington Road, in front of the Parsons Homestead at 520 Washington Road. Written on the reverse of the photo: "Mr. Taylor 1925. P. Electric R.R." Another copy of the photo dates the image as April 6, 1925. The "P. Electric R.R." is probably a reference to the Portsmouth Electric Railway (1899-1925). The trolley cars were replaced with buses sometime in 1925. (Rye Historical Society/Doug Parsons Collection)
The iron horse invaded our nearby pastoral landscape and scared the cows to death in the 1840s, but in 1900 it came right through the center of town and Albert Philbrick’s dear dog Carlo was so angry he attacked it and was killed. Well, it was a long walk/ride to town and a long wait for the stage, and a horse and wagon cost $1.50, so many welcomed the modern world in 1899 when the Portsmouth Electric Railway arrived in Rye Center, eventually making its way down Central road and hooking up with the soon completed Ocean Boulevard rail to Hampton Beach. The trolley linked people up all over the seacoast and coastal Maine - a great inter-city rail system as you still find in Europe. But it ended in 1927. Why could it not co-exist with automobiles? (Don’t ask!) Was this indeed progress, or was it like a devil’s bargain - as the old Sumerian myth says: If you accept the gifts of civilization can you use them with wisdom and restraint? If you can’t, will you be able to bear the consequences? The horseless carriage prevailed over most passenger rail. You be the judge.
Trolley rail down Central road.
