(Editor's Note: This is the first of two parts on trolleys in Carbon County. Next week's installment will be about some deadly incidents along the line.)

By RONALD RABENOLDSpecial to the TIMES NEWSFor a brief time, the Lehighton and Carbon County area was served by an "inter-urban" trolley system. It was a popular form of mass transportation, a necessary bridge from the stagecoach, horse-and-buggy days until the time when cars and buses took over.The Carbon County Electric Railway or Carbon Transit Company had its beginnings in Mauch Chunk as early as 1892. At that time, it was James Irwin Blakslee Sr. who controlled the Mauch Chunk Gas and Power Company.A setback occurred in Coalport (just above the present Jim Thorpe bridge) in late November of 1892. A portable boiler, being used by Horlacher and Haag to fix the water turbines that generated electricity for the railway, exploded. It killed one worker named Albright. Two others seriously injured included Frances Daubert of Franklin Township.The first power plant for the Lehighton area was in the north end of Weissport. It was begun by the Carbon County Improvement Company in 1890. James Blakslee Jr., Blakslee Sr.'s grandson, purchased the plant and the

C.C.I.C. as a whole in 1895. The light company subsequently charged $5 per month for the electricity used to illuminate the Lehighton-Weissport Bridge. (It was built in 1889 for $25,500 and painted by local Jacob Strausburger for $200 in December of 1892.)James I. Blakslee, Jr. became the principal force behind the Lehighton Electric Light and Power Company. This eventually led to the Carbon Electric Street Railway and trolley service in Lehighton by the early 1900s.Blakslee Jr. lived on Bridge Street, in the stately, former home of Lewis Graver, in what is today's American Legion Post No. 314.In January of 1901, the Lehighton Town Council approved the right of way for Carbon Electric Railway to operate in Lehighton. The first cars began to run the following September.Floods destroyelectric plantsHowever, the flood of December of 1901 caused severe damage to Blakslee's plant. He sought damage claims from the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, citing coal silt in the Lehigh River as a contributing cause. He won a $4,000 claim. But disaster soon struck again.The February of 1902 flood two months later was even more devastating. The power plant was completely gone with only the foundation walls remaining.Soon after, another plant, higher above the river, near South Main Lane on the Lehighton side (near the beginning of the present day Lehighton By-pass) was built.Another Lehightonian involved with the newly formed electric rail system was Attorney Theodore A. Snyder. He was the former Superintendent of Carbon Schools and also accumulated a small fortune in land speculation and Lehighton land development.His home at Seventh and Iron Streets was known as the "Colonial Court" Estate. With few homes in the surrounding area at the time, the extensive grounds included a zoo with peacocks and a deer pen. Escaping deer were known to cause havoc throughout the town from time to time.The centerpiece was the mansion he purchased from the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo New York (where President McKinley was assassinated.) Snyder fell in love with the sweeping lines of the Michigan State building and had the seven-bedroom mansion transported here piece by piece via the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1902.The home unfortunately burned to the ground on April 4, 1916, nine years after Snyder's death in 1907. Until the last few years, the ornamental concrete orbs were still visible at the sidewalks across the street from the Dodge dealership near the Grove.Other local men associated with the electric company and trolley service were superintendent and electrician at the power house Edward Moser. Dennis "Chippy" Dugan was one of the many motormen on the local trolley in Mauch Chunk.Also, among the motormen were Enos Hauk and Harry Wuchter of Lehighton. These men became well-known to the passengers along their routes. Wutcher purchased the Four Mile House in Pleasant Corners in 1906.Lehighton routeof the trolley lineThe line entered town from the Lentz Farm (today's Ukranian Homestead), over the Bear Run Creek ravine, and down Beaver Run Road to the stop at the Main Gate of the Lehighton Fairgrounds.From there, it went down Mahoning Street to South Street where it joined with the perpendicular line of First Street. Once downtown, it carried passengers along First Street from the Lehigh Valley Railroad Station to the southern end where the newly built power plant was built.Not only could residents ride to Flagstaff Park, a favorite destination for many on the weekends, but it also went down over the other side of the mountain to the trolley stop at the Switchback Railroad sub-station (near today's Jim Thorpe Water Plant on Lentz Trail.)Switchback secondin nation in tourismThe Switchback was second only to Niagara Falls as a tourist destination. It not only provided thrills to those hearty enough to ride it in those days but was also a transportation link between Jim Thorpe and Summit Hill. Thus the electric rail helped to connect the communities of Summit Hill, Bloomingdale, Hacklebernie, the Mauch Chunks and Lehighton to the south.Displacing the trolley even before cars would become commonplace, the 1920s saw a quick increase in the use buses as the preferred mode of intra- and inter-urban travel.Bethlehem was experiencing congestion on its narrow streets, particularly on days of Lehigh University football games and the professional games on Sundays at Fabricator Field, which was several blocks away from the nearest trolley line.The Lehigh Valley Transit Company that ran the trolleys offered to augment the rush periods caused by these games with a small fleet of buses, hence marking the beginning of the end for the street cars.The completion of the "Hill-to-Hill Bridge" in 1925 further hastened its end when the

L.V.T.C. was unable to secure the right of way for tracks over the bridge. As a result, the company increased its fleet of buses by ten.Changes weretaking placeAt about this same time, things were rapidly changing here in Lehighton, too. The years leading up to 1926 saw the small locally owned power companies being bought up by the fledgling Pennsylvania Power and Light. This signaled the end of the line for the Carbon Railway too.In 1926, though still used as a shortcut for people walking from Beaver Run to Lehighton, the 80-foot high, nearly 400-foot-long trestle was torn down. It is said to have shared the same fate as the Switchback Railroad: sold as scrap metal to pre-World War II Japan.And James Irwin Blakslee Jr., the man who gave so much to Lehighton, died in November of the same yearat the age of 55.Lehighton owes much to Blakslee and his early enterprises here. He was Carbon's State Representative for one term in1907 and he started the Lehighton Boys Band in 1912. He also served as the Fourth Assistant Postmaster General of the United States from 1913 to 1921.In April 1937, Postmaster General Joe Farley came to Lehighton and dedicated Lehighton's new post office to the memory of Blakslee. Prior to the building of Route 443 in 1939, that section of roadway was named "Blakeslee Boulevard" in his honor.The honor, however, is somewhat dubious, given the continued misspelling of his name.This complete story with over twenty pictures can be seen at

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