Deepwater in 1907 - Princeton

[NW Mailing List]

Jim,

Our home was about 1.5 miles out of Princeton on the old Princeton - Bluefield road that was paralleled by the interurban line.  We did not have an auto for most of that time, so if I went into either Princeton or Bluefield I rode the interurban cars.  Because of the shortages of gasoline and tires during WW II the board of education discontinued school buses on our road and paid the traction company to give us rides on the interurban cars to and from school in Princeton each school day.

As I have stated before, I am collecting info on the Princeton and Bluefield streetcars and the interurban between, so if you or any of the Mail Listers has any info at all, I would like to hear from you.

For old times sake I am attaching a photo that I took a little over a half-century ago of a Princeton - Bluefield interurban car just below our house (out of sight on the hill to the left) on a snowy day when the interurban was about the only thing moving.  Remember those West Virginia winters?  The "hole" just to the left of the front of the car was a culvert under the road and the track for cows to get between the part of my grandmother's farm on the hill to the left and the part of the farm seen on the right along Brush Creek.  If you look closely you can see the marks made in the snow by drag of the traction motors.

Gordon Hamilton
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 10:42 PM
  Subject: Re: Deepwater in 1907 - Princeton


  Gordon: The interurban used to run right in front of my apartment on Princeton Avenue. I rode it to Princeton at least once before it was replaced by busses.    Jim Nichols
    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: NW Mailing List 
    To: N&W Mailing 1List ; VGN Ry Yahoo Group 
    Sent: Friday, April 18, 2008 8:51 PM
    Subject: Deepwater in 1907 - Princeton


    PRINCETON THREATENS TO RIVAL BLUEFIELD
    ------
    General Opinion of County Seat That Deepwater Will Locate Yards and Round House There
    ------
    MANY HOUSES GOING UP AND OTHERS PROJECTED
    ------
        The advent of the new railroad through a section of Princeton bids fair to make the town grow until she may become a possible rival of her sister city, Bluefield.  A large number of new houses are in course of construction and a number of new ones are planned for the present summer.
        It seems to be the general opinion that the Deepwater and Tidewater will locate their yards and round houses at Princeton.  In this event the town will grow proportionately with the railroad.
        Although nothing definite can be learned it may be said that this is the plan of the silent new railroad.  New York and other interests connected with the new railroad have bought a tract of land covering nearly 1,500 acres.  This land has no timber on it, neither has it coal beneath it, so the only inference that can be drawn is that the company has bought it so as to be able to erect dwellings.  It is worthless for farming purposes, so no other conclusion can be drawn.  The Telegraph is willing to assert then, that this is the object of the company and that when the construction work is completed, or perhaps before, Princeton will be a division point on the new railroad.
        When this condition arises Princeton must prosper.  Since it appears next to impossible to secure a connecting link between the Norfolk and Western at Bluefield and the Deepwater and Tidewater at Princeton, a trolley line between the two places is the only way to solve the question of Greater Bluefield and prosperity for the business men of this city.
        If this road could be completed within the next five years and a large department store erected at Bluefield with reasonable prices, there is no doubt but that a large number of people from this section would do their trading in Bluefield instead of Roanoke and other cities.  It seems reasonable to think that a trolley line could be built with the fare about 50 cents.  If this road could be built it would no doubt be able to pay dividends in a few years, for Princeton is growing at a rapid rate and Bluefield is increasing proportionately.
        It certainly should be food for thought and should be discussed by the Bluefield 25,000 club.

    Bluefield Daily Telegraph
    January 8, 1907

    [It would be another 9 years before the trolley line would start service between Princeton and Bluefield, but it would survive for 31 years after that.]

    Gordon Hamilton




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