by Nicolaus Hajek, revised by Glenna Van Dyke

Starting in the 1840s, the railroads would be the driving force in the American economy for the next 100 years. From the moment train tracks came to Wooster, the small town found new ways to travel, communicate and trade, as the railways made these things quicker and easier than ever before. The Pennsylvania & Ohio line that linked Wooster to Pittsburgh and Chicago, and the Interurban that connected towns in Northeast Ohio would ensure Wooster’s place on the map and in the U.S. economy.  

Negotiating a Railway  

The 1840s saw a boom in the rail industry, as Americans laid down over 9,000 miles of track. The Pennsylvania and Ohio Company connected factories in Pittsburgh to Chicago’s lead mines, and along the way, stops were made at small Ohio villages, giving them access to faraway markets. ² Small towns knew that the railroad meant economic prosperity and so they all wanted to be a part of the network. ³

Wooster’s fight for a railroad began in 1850, as city leaders knew that the railroad would make Wooster the hub of Wayne County. It would also allow for Woosterians to travel and communicate faster than ever before. If Wooster did not achieve its goal, it was certain that businesses would move to the nearest town with railway access. ⁴ 

 The City began to negotiate with Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad Company in 1850, to be a part of their Philadelphia to Chicago line. Stockholders who came to the city were impressed by its character and charm and deemed it fit for the railroad. By 1851, workers began to lay down the tracks to Wooster.  

Celebrating the Finished Railway

On August 10^th, 1852, the final piece of Wooster’s Railway was laid down, and the town took the day off to celebrate the momentous occasion. Thousands gathered at the depot to watch the first train come in from Pittsburgh. The first distant train whistle startled the crowd, but as they watched the massive machine roll into the depot and come to a stop, they began to cheer. Droves of well-dressed passengers from Pittsburgh poured out of the train cars to see a crowd of fifteen thousand enthusiastic Wooster residents. ¹ Celebrations went on throughout the day, and a feast was thrown for the guests of honor. At the toast, General Robinson, the President of the Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad thanked Wooster’s people for their hard work and dedication, marking that day as an important one in Wooster’s history. ²  

With the new railroad also came telegraph wires, which allowed people to communicate with those as far east as Pittsburgh in a few minutes. When the Chicago half of the line was built, livestock and produce was loaded on boxcars and sent directly, instead of rotting in stagecoaches on its way to the market. To keep track of departures and arrivals, Wooster began to run on the same time as every other town on the railroad.³   Newspapers printed departure times, ensuring that everyone was up to date about what would come in and out of town. More connected than ever before, Wooster had found its niche as a small-town supplier for a big-city America. 

The Railways and the Rise of Populism  

After the Civil War, railway tariffs skyrocketed as the massive railway corporations negotiated for the lowest rates possible to pay back their shareholders. ¹   
The responsibility to pay fell on farmers, which they felt was deeply unfair. ² They pointed out that the tariffs they were forced to pay to get their goods to the market were more than what they would make from selling those goods. To fight these unjust prices, farmers met in secret and organized into groups such as The Patrons of Husbandry or the Grange. After a countrywide recession, the Grange gained power, demanding that the railroads charge a “just and equitable amount” for their services. ³ 

The demands of the Grange were part of a larger movement in America: Populism. In Wooster, populism manifested as opposition to the interest rates banks forced farmers to pay, as well as a general criticism of political corruption and the involvement of big businesses, such as the railway, in government. Unfortunately, the Wooster Grange never passed any of their demands and the anti-railway movement dissolved in the 1880’s. ⁴ The Grange still operated well into the 1900s, and the Grange hall can still be found near the old fairgrounds.  

The Heyday of the Railway  

The 1890s were the peak of the railroad industry. Cities such as Chicago, New York, and San Francisco were exploding in population and cities scrambled to keep their transportation and infrastructure up to date. Wooster’s rails were used to maximum capacity to transport raw materials, crops, and livestock. ¹ Trains carrying would leave the depot, either heading west to Chicago or east to Pittsburgh. Farmers meanwhile shipped less to the market and sold most of their stock in town, to avoid paying high tariffs. Meanwhile, townspeople could easily visit Cleveland or Columbus by passenger train, whose arrival times were posted in the local paper. ²  

The Rise and Fall of Interurban  

 By the beginning of the 20^th century, electric rails were the country’s new obsession. Entrepreneurs built a line from Cleveland to Wooster, allowing passengers to travel throughout Northeast Ohio and be home by the day’s end, creating a Northeastern Ohio community.  

The Interurban, sometimes called the “Green Line” because of their green boxcars, started out as a track to connect Berea and Cleveland, built by A.H. Pomeroy and W.D. Miller. ¹ Before long, they had built a 202-mile long line from Wooster to Cleveland, with stops at several towns along the way. In a few hours, a Clevelander could visit OARDC, or a Woosterian could go to a Cleveland Indians game.² The Interurban connected rural and urban Ohio, and its citizens gained a much greater ability to travel without having to relocate. ³ In 1927, the Wooster to Millersburg stretch of the Baltimore and Ohio line was shut down ⁴, and in 1929, with the rise of busses and automobiles, the Interurban came to an end. ⁵  

The War’s Supply Line 

Wooster’s railways were crucial for transporting goods as the country prepared for World War II in 1938. The Baltimore & Ohio line (formerly the Pennsylvania & Ohio until it was bought in 1899) ferried cargo, especially raw materials to build tanks and guns, across the country. ¹ Wooster’s farmers also provided food for the soldiers and used the railways to quickly send crops out. ² On the home front, leisurely travel by train was reduced as the army received higher priority for using the railways. Wooster’s depot was as busy as ever, with boxcars flowing in and out, carrying goods to wherever they were needed. ³ 

The End of an Era  

By the 1960s, the Interstate Highway system, the state road systems, and extremely high rights of automobile ownership made railroads increasingly obsolete. At the same time, industries were leaving Wooster, meaning it would have to say goodbye to its railways. By 1971, the railroad decommissioned the Pennsylvania Passenger Depot. Six years later, a 31-car pileup would reduce the old depot building to rubble.¹ The building of Wooster’s Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Freight Station is now Stull’s Hair Clinic, located at the junction between Columbus Avenue and Vanover Street.  

The tracks are still in use today but only to transport freight. Late at night, one can still hear the train whistle blare in the night.  

Sources by Section:

¹ Van Oss, Saloman Frederick. American Railroads and British Investors. (London: Effingham Wilson & Co., 1893), 3.
² Fishlow, Albert. American Railroads and the Transformation of the Ante-Bellum Economy. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965), 4.
³ Juchir, Paul. Historic Trolley Tour of Wooster. Performed May 10-12th, 2008.
⁴ “Wooster and Grafton Rail Road”. Wayne County Democrat. August 19th, 1852. Accessed through Microfilm copy in the Genealogy and History department from Wooster Public Library.

¹ Rodgers, Thomas L. “Recollections of Early Times on the Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad.” Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine 3 (1920): 3-8.
² Picturesque Wayne: A History in Text and Engraving. (Akron-Werner Company, 1999), 58-59. Accessed through the Genealogy Department of Wooster Public Library.
³ Churella, Albert J.. The Pennsylvania Railroad, Volume I: Building an empire, 1846-1917. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013).

¹ Fishlow, Albert. American Railroads and the Transformation of the Ante-Bellum Economy. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965.) 102.
² Fishlow, 103.
³ Lewis, Arnold. Wooster in 1876. (Wooster: Art Center Museum, the College of Wooster, 1976), 111.
⁴ Lewis, 111.

¹ “A History of Wayne County, Ohio: Compiled and Edited By Members of the Wayne County History Book Committee.” (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1987). Accessed through Genealogy department of the Wayne County Public Library.
² Hauenstein, E.H.. “Recall Days When Railroads, Abandoned Two Decades Ago, Flourished in Wayne Co.—Few Traces Remain”. Daily Record, July 21st, 1948.

¹ “A History of Wayne County, Ohio: Compiled and Edited By Members of the Wayne County History Book Committee.” (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1987). Accessed through Genealogy department of the Wayne County Public Library.
² Wilcox, Max. The Cleveland Southwestern & Columbus Railway Story: The Sandusky, Norwalk & Mansfield Electric Railway. Wayne Co. OH – Transportation: Interurban Collection. Accessed through Genealogy department of the Wayne County Public Library.
³ “A History of Wayne County, Ohio”.
⁴ Wilcox, 2.
⁵ Wilcox, 11.

¹ “A History of Wayne County, Ohio: Compiled and Edited By Members of the Wayne County History Book Committee.” (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1987). Accessed through Genealogy department of the Wayne County Public Library.
² Landeck, Carl, & Roger Thorne. “The Pennsylvania Railroad During World War II”. Tredyffin Easttown Historical Society. Page 3. 
³ Landeck & Thorne, 6.

¹ Historical Landmarks of Wooster City (Killbuck Township). Wayne County Historical Society. Accessed at http://waynehistoricalohio.org/research/wa-co-historical-landmark-list/#woostercity.

How to cite this page:

MLA: “The Railroads.” stories.woosterhistory.org, http://stories.woosterhistory.org/the-railroads/. Accessed [Today’s Date].

Chicago: “The Railroads.” stories.woosterhistory.org. http://stories.woosterhistory.org/the-railroads/ (accessed [Today’s Date]).

APA: (Year, Month Date). The Railroads. stories.woosterhistory.org. http://stories.woosterhistory.org/the-railroads/