Streetcars in Connellsville
Authored by: Connellsville Area Historical Society
West Penn Terminal Building on Arch Street
The first streetcar company in Connellsville was the Connellsville, New Haven and Leisenring Street Railway Co., chartered May 9, 1891, by the same parties who chartered the Uniontown Street Railway Co., supplemented with aid from citizens of Connellsville. It extended from Main St., Connellsville, on a bridge over the Youghiogheny River, through New Haven and Dunbar Township, to a point on Mud Pike about a mile from Leisenring No. 3, a distance of approximately 4 miles.
Streetcar on Race Street
The second company chartered at Connellsville was the Connellsville Suburban Street Railway Co., chartered by citizens of Connellsville, Lancaster and Pittsburgh PA., on September 15, 1896, extending from Main Street Connellsville to South Connellsville, approximately 2.5 miles. This was the only railway in the system other than that at Kittanning constructed with 4' 8.5" gauge track, and in 1903 it was changed to a gauge of 5' 2.5", the same as track of the other railways. The stock in this company was purchased by the West Penn Railway and Lighting Syndicate on September 24, 1902.
End of the Line in South Connellsville
This photo shows the end of the line for the trolley cars in South Connellsville. The conductor of the car is flipping the box to head back to Connellsville.
The line extension in South Connellsville was important to Capstan Glass workers (later changed to Anchor Hocking) for transportation to and from work. The workers would then walk down from Pittsburgh Street on a path walkway to what is now Anchor Glass.
People from South Connellsville used them to travel into town for various purposes such as shopping. Run time was every 15 minutes along the 2.2 mile route, 30 minutes in the evenings. The time between Main Street in Connellsville and the end of the line in South Connellsville was about 15 minutes.
The line beginning from its termination in South Connellsville:
Pittsburgh Street
Up Woodlawn Ave.
Race Street until
Green Street and down to
Arch Street to the
West Penn Terminal off of
East Crawford Avenue (then Main Street)
Posted: Feb 2, 2002
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