Program

Historic Transportation

Subject

Industry & Commerce, Transportation

Location

205 Glasgow St, Clyde, NY 14433, USA

Lat/Long

43.08775363629, -76.867170170148

Grant Recipient

Village of Clyde (Building Department)

Used primarily throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, electric trolleys and interurbans provided a quick, cost-effective mode of transportation for passengers and freight alike. Though operating trolleys are less common than they once were, remnant structures related to this mode of transportation are still extant. Such as the case with the former Trolley Station in Clyde, New York.

Located on the corner of Glasgow St. and Wayne Ave., the former Trolley Station was built by the Rochester, Syracuse and Eastern Railroad Company, and opened to the public in 1908. Part of the “Beebe Syndicate,” a name given to a series of interurbans and trollies founded by Clifford D. Beebe and largely located in central New York, the Rochester, Syracuse and Eastern Railroad connected nearby towns to larger cities.

In the 1905 publication of “Grip’s” historical souvenir of Clyde, N. Y., the forthcoming interurban is described in detail:

“The new trolley road connecting Syracuse and Rochester, which is now being built, will give Clyde two more tracks to the east and west. This will make six, a means of commercial communication which few towns of its size possess. This new trolley is being constructed on the most approved plans, of the heaviest rail and best laid roadbed, and with an equipment capable of giving the best passenger and freight service.”

When finished, the Trolley Station in Clyde featured both a waiting room for passengers, and a storage room for express and freight shipments.

The Rochester, Syracuse & Eastern Railroad continued operations until closing in 1931.