The trolley depot was at the corner of Main and Park Ave. It was torn down to build the post office. The trolley stopped at all the crossroads. The horse shed for the Universalist Church used to be back behind there too.
There were horse sheds behind all the churches. People used them on Sunday and also when they took the trolley to Lockport and other places.
If you consult the 1908 map of the Village of Middleport in the Niagara County Atlas, you will see that the B.L. & R trolley station was NOT located on the site of today’s Post Office, but rather on the site of today’s Key Bank. Just thought you would like to know!
Regards,
Fred
Just read the outstanding book you authored on Royalton, Middleport and Hartland. Wanted to say great job but can’t locate your email. Hoping maybe you will see this.
Regards,
Dave West
formerly of Maple Ave., Middleport
Thank you Dave….Good to hear from you.
Best regards,
Fred Fierch
I am very pleased that you visited our site and shared some information regarding the trolley stop here in Middleport. I was surprised about your findings in the 1908 Atlas since everything I had ever read put the trolley stop at what is now the present Post Office site here in Middleport. Reading the recollections of Bill Shaw and Bill Holahan, both long time residents of this community, I couldn’t imagine that they were mistaken. Even all the maps I consulted, especially the Sanborn Insurance maps as well as one in the book, “The Story of the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway” by William Reed Gordon, put the trolley depot at that location. The time had come for some further investigation.
After talking with Jesse Bieber, Royalton Historian, he forwarded a small mention in the Niagara Falls Gazette from November 4, 1909, which stated “Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Dreher have rented the house belonging to the trolley company at the corner of Main and the park and will open a temperance hotel there this week.” The December 8, 1909 edition had a follow up which stated “Mr. and Mrs. F.C. Dreher have opened their restaurant on the corner of Main Street and the park and it is known as the Park Inn.”
My conclusion is that most likely the trolley, which started in 1908, the year the atlas was drawn up, may have operated for a brief period out of that location.
However, once the Drehers took over the building, the trolley stop definitely moved across the street to the corner of Main and Church Street. A Lockport Union Sun and Journal article of May 5, 1996 about the historic mural in the Post Office states that the present Post Office building “replaced the village trolley depot, a church social hall and a small residence which were purchased by the federal government in November 1939 for $8,950.”
Your comment certainly opened another door since now we need to learn more about the Park Inn, which was located at the present site of Key Bank. This certainly has not been solo project as I need to thank Rick Wagner for sharing his 1908 Atlas, Patt Fagan for scanning and helping to hunt down information and of course Jesse Bieber for his computer knowledge which brought us the Gazette articles.
I hope that others will step forward and help us solve the mystery of the Park Inn since none of us had never heard it mentioned before this came to light.
You can see the maps and articles I refer to at this link – http://middleport-newyork.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/trolley-2.pdf