Medina County, Ohio - Chapter 4 (2 of 2 so headed), 1881 (part 2 of 2)

In addition to Medina's interest in the road, a general interest was excited among the business men of Cleveland. There was a large extent of coal fields in the Tuscarawas Valley, the product of which, it was thought, could be brought at a cheap rate to aid the manufacturing interests of Cleveland, and her citizens soon took an active interest in the matter. On the 13th of February, a meeting of prominent citizens was held at the council hall in the city, to enlist the city in the project of building such a railroad, and a committee appointed to investigate the subject. Two routes were under consideration and urged by those interested in the different plans ; one proposed starting from the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis road at Berea, running nearly. south, along the most eligible grounds, to within one mile of the easterly side of Medina Village; thence bearing easterly to the nearest coal, near the north line of Wadsworth ; thence to the Tusearawas Valley, near Clinton, and thence to the Pan Handle road, in Mill Township, Tuscarawas County, a distance from eighty to eightyfive miles. The second route proposed to start from Grafton or Berea, thence extending south to Medina, Seville, Wooster, Millersburg, Coshocton and on to Zanesville or Marietta. Another railroad project was one under the auspices of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. This line proposed to extend from Pittsburgh to Akron, through Medina to Tiffin, thence to Valparaiso, Ind. and thence to Chicago. Another was called the Lake Branch of the Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Continental Railway. This project proposed to use the old roadbed from Grafton, through Medina to Dalton, in Wayne County, and then connect with a main line that should traverse the continent. The Cleveland & Marietta road was a variation on the Wooster & Zanesville route, and the Tuscarawas Valley road was a variation on the route proposed by the Cleveland interest, and proposed to go south through Hinckley, Granger and Wadsworth. Amid all this activity in railroad matters, Medina did not neglect her advantages. Acting upon the advice of Mr. Bronson,-and having secured the old road-bed some forty miles long, in his own right, Mr. Blake held the balance of power, and, while listening to all propositions, did not lose control of this property until he had received a sufficient bond that a road would be built. For a time it seemed that the Lake Branch of the Baltimore, Pittsburgh & Continental Railroad, would secure the co-operation of Medina, and the old road-bed. On the 21st of April, 1871, a meeting of the Directors was held in Medina, and a permanent, organization effected with Mr. Blake as a Director. A proposition was made to transfer this property to the road, provided assurance could be given that the road would be built in a short time, and on the 19th of May it was announced that this company would build the road.

In the meanwhile, the stockholders of the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railroad met and elected Directors, who effected a permanent organization on March 31, 1871. The officers of the organization had been active both in learning the character of the country on the two routes noted above and the subscription likely to be received in support of a railroad on either line. On May 18, at a meeting of those interested in this road, Cleveland reported a subscription of $92,000; Wadsworth, $30,000 ; Doylestown, $20,000 ; Royalton, Hinckley, Granger and Sharon, $75,000: By the other route, Massillon subscribed $25,- 000; Navarre, $17,000 ; Canal Dover, $16,090, and New Philadelphia, $20,000. Medina, to be benefited by either route, promised $50,000. On the 2d of June, 1871, the Gazette came out with the following double-leaded editorial: "By this time, probably, our home readers have all heard the good news - that we are to have a railroad. It is now rendered certain, that, if stock to the amount of $100,000 is sub- willbe built at once. This is not a mere rumor, but is based on a contract in black and white, with parties who are abundantly able to fulfill it. We therefore feel warranted in saying, definitely and emphatically, that the road will be built at once.

" The company known as the Lake Branch of the Baltimore & Continental Railroad, who have been figuring for the old road-bed, failed to give Mr. Blake any guarantee of their ability to build the road, and the preposition made to them was therefore withdrawn. That company may be said to be numbered among the things that were. None of its corporators, besides Mr. Blake, acquired any interest whatever in the old road-bed, and are, therefore, not benefited directly or indirectly, as individuals or as an organization, in the new arrangement. The road-bed belonged solely to Mr. Blake, who held it for the purpose of securing the building of a railroad to Medina. That object will be accomplished as soon as the amount of stock above mentioned is raised.

The old road-bed is to be transferred to the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Company, who have entered into a contract to build the road from Grafton to Seville, provided the amount of $100,000 in stock is subscribed between the two points, payable when the road is built, and the iron laid. Dr. Streator, of Cleveland, the President of the company, makes the contract, having been authorized to do so by the Directors; and he guarantees that work shall be commenced on the road within ninety days, and the cars running to Medina and Seville this fall. If the road is not built, there will be nothing to pay, and the road-bed, at the end of two years, will revert back to Mr. Blake. If the road is built, we can afford to pay. This is how the matter stands: We give the road-bed as a donation, and take $100,000 worth of stock, of the company, which binds itself to build the road. If we do not raise the

"The subscription books will be here this week andin a few days the effort will be made to raise the stock - an effort which must end only in success. In a fortnight's time, every dollar of stock ought to be subscribed, now or never."

On the 7th of June, a meeting was called at the court house to present the subject of subscription to this new project. Hon. Hiram Bronson was chairman, and Mr. Blake the spokesman of the occasion.

the evening of June 28, the sum of $108,800 was subscribed for this object, Grafton and vicinity contributing $18,000, Seville and vicinity $31,000, and Medina and vicinity $59,800. In thelatter part of August, 1871. Dr. Streator, President of the road, contracted with Selah Chamberlain, of Cleveland, to grade the roadway, lay the track, with switches, side-tracks, of the road at Grafton, and on the 3d of November, the track reached York, where the employes of the road were regaled with a grand supper spread by the citizens of the delighted village, and on the 10th the whistle of the first locomotive was heard in Medina. At the county seat the preparations for the celebration of the event were of a more formal eharacter. This was set for the 15th of November, with the following programme : *1. Signal gun on the arrival of the train (first passenger train bringing invited guests) within the limits of the corporation. Ringing of all the bells in town, and blowing of the steam whistles for ten minutes consecutively ; music by all the bands; discharge of 100 guns by the artillery. 2. Reception of guests from the train by the Mayor and Common Council ; reception address by the Mayor of the village, and other exercises at the speaker's stand. 3. Procession will form under direction of the Marshal and march to the square, when it will be dismissed. 4. Musie by allthe bands. 5. Two hours for dinner. 6. At the hour when the train is to depart, the officers of the day, committees and bands of music, will escort the railway officials and invited guests to the train" The day appointed was a bleak November day, and the programme was somewhat varied from that prepared, but the occasion was a joyous one, and long to be remembered in the annals of Medina County. As soon as the building of the road from Grafton southward was assured, agitate the question of extending it through Elyria to the mouth of Black River. It was soon arranged and a new organization, composed of the same men, chartered the Elyria & Black River Railway Company. Elyria paid $50,000, and Black River a proportionate amount, and the extension was made. Thesubsequent history of the road, so far as the stockholders are concerned, has not been completely satisfactory, though quite in keeping with the general history of railroads. In July, 1874, the Union Trust Company, of New York, as trustee, brought suit against the Lake Shore & Tuscarawas Valley Railway Company and the Elyria & Black River Railway Company, on account of the failure to pay the July interest, and the court appointed a receiver. It ran on in this way until January 26, 1875, when it was sold, Selah Chamberlain bidding it in at $1,000,000. On the 1st of February, the name of the consolidated road was changed to the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley & Wheeling Railway, and a new company formed to operate it. A short time afterward, Selah Chamberlain transferred his title to the new company for the nominal consideration of $1. Thus the the encumbrance of a large number of stockholders rather than necessity, they accepted the benefit accruing from the road as a full equivalent for their money. In 1879, the road was extended from Urichsville to Wheeling by the way of Flushing. There was considerable competition to secure the location of the line by way of New Athens, but the former prevailed. This road has 17.81 miles of main line in the county, and 2.76 miles of sidings, making a total of 20.57 miles of track, and is appraised at $8,933 per mile for purposes of taxation. The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad is a project that has long been before the people of Medina, and though at last making some encouraging progress, fails to excite any enthusiasm outside of the immediate localities through which it passes. It was projected in 1871, and proposed to start from the head of Wheeling Island, running thence through the counties of Belmont, Jefferson, Harrison, Carroll, Tuscarawas, Stark, Wayne, Medina, Ashland, Huron, Ottawa, Sandusky to Toledo. Eastern capitalists proposed to furnish $15,000 per mile, provided the citizens along the proposed route would subscribe $10,000 per mile. Before the close of the year, the right of way was secured to within six miles of Wooster, with the exception of about a dozen farms, and a subscription of upward of $1,000,000 along the line from Wheeling to Sandusky. The line was run from Wheeling northward, and the work of constructing it begun in the same way. Upward of $60,000 was subscribed by the citizens of that part of the county to receive the greatest benefit from its construction, and the road was definitely settled so far north as Lodi. Little or no work, however, was done, and the project languished until 1874, when it was vigorously taken up. Mr. Walter Shanley, the contractor for the entire line, sub-let fifty miles of the road, extending east from Lodi, including some of the tunnel work. The road was contracted at $50,000 per mile, to be paid $5,000 in cash, $22,500 in bonds and a like amount in stock certificates. Several miles were built in this county in that year, but the work soon ceased ; the project lay dormant for three years longer. In 1877, the matter was again revived, but the plan had changed under the exigencies of the money market, and it was proposed to build a narrow-gauge road. Work was vigorously Vegun on the northern end, and the road completed so as to run cars from Norwalk to Port Huron. Just here, another hiatus occurred until the fall of 1880. The standard gauge has been resumed, and work is being pushed forward with apparent signs of a successful issue. Its northern terminus is very much in doubt at this writing. Toledo, Port Huron and Sandusky being competitors, with equal chances of success. Medina County is interested to the extent of upward of $75,000 in subscriptions at present ; and, if completed, the road will have about sixteen miles of main line track within the limits of the county.

The New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railway touches the southeast corner of the county, curving northward to Wadsworth Village, on its way to Akron, and barely touches the townships of Harrisville and Westfield, where they touch each other and the Wayne County line.

This road was originally built with a six-foot gauge, and called the Atlantic & Great Western Railroad, with Salamanca, in New York, and Dayton, in Ohio, as its termini. By arrangements with the Hrie, and the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton roads, an outlet was secured either way to New York City and Cincinnati. On the 6th day of January, 1880, this road was sold under the foreclosure of mortgages, and passed into the hands of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Company. No sooner had they taken possession than they began to plan for the narrowing of the gauge, and the general improvement of the road. All being ready, on the 22d from end to end of the road, men labored with might and main. 'This work had been so skillfully planned, every difficulty anticipated, and all preparations so accurately made, that the road was narrowed in less than half a day. Very few trains were delayed, and hardly a break occurred in the great business of this road. The work of narrowing engines is yet going on, the average cost being $1,600. Ifa new boiler and fire-box are required, the expense runs upward of $3,000.

The road reached Wadsworth about 1863, and in the following year ran its first passenger trains. It gave great impetus to the growth of that town, stimulating its business, developing its coal mines, and attracting a business population to its center. This road has 71$, miles of main line in the county, 1:22, miles of branch line, and 1,2, miles of sidings, making a total of 9:55, miles of track in the county.