HUDSON – Let’s take a break from today’s rush hour world and look back to a simpler time when Hudson had three independent streetcar lines.
The Boston & Worcester began operating in 1895, running from Hudson to Marlborough, Southborough and White’s Corner, with city connections. In April of 1900, the Worcester Consolidated began their Hudson, Berlin, Clinton run, connecting to Worcester. Finally, in early 1902 the Concord, Maynard and Hudson line began service, terminating at the rotary in downtown Concord.
All the lines met in Wood Square.
Especially nice were the open cars used during the summer months. People often took a ride just to enjoy a balmy starlit evening.
Things went well for the companies until about 1918, when competition from the automobile began to slow ridership. On Jan. 16, 1923, the Concord, Maynard, and Hudson suspended service. The Worcester Consolidated was next, making their last run Sept. 16, 1924. First to come and last to go was the B&W line, which ended trolley service in April 1928. Buses followed for many years afterwards.
However, traces of the system remain.
B&W #149, likely the only surviving car to have rode through Hudson, awaits restoration at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. The Amvets building was the B&W freight house. Daigneault’s package store in Berlin was a trolley barn, and in Stow Center, at the intersection of 62 and 117 stands the old stone waiting room.
Wouldn’t it be great to have streetcars today?
David Bonazzoli is the historian for the Hudson Historical Society.
