Brookline here is the web site address...

[mrb190]

http://trfn.clpgh.org/bacc/Gallery/Photos.shtml#bm_trolleys

John Swindler wrote:

> While searching for some newspaper articles, got side-tracked (no pun
> intended) to a Pittsburgh internet site which had information on Brookline
> community, including photos of Brookline Blvd., circa 1918.  Follows is a
> selection of trolley related extracts from this Brookline website.  May have
> been three rivers.net???  (same site that hosts Duquesne Incline)
>
> John
>
> Street Car Service
>
> The first street railway south of the Monongahela River was a horse car
> line, which operated on Carson Street to Thirtieth Street. In the winter the
> floor was covered with straw to keep the passengers feet warm. The first
> electric cars were used in this part of the city in 1890 and were controlled
> by the Pittsburgh and Birmingham Traction Company. The cars seated about 25
> people. In 1903-04 the streetcar tunnel was built and the line through
> Beechview to Mount Lebanon was constructed. Regular service through the
> tunnel began on December 2, 1904. In 1905 a double-track line was
> constructed through Brookline from Kerr's Blacksmith Shop on West Liberty
> Avenue to the Charleroi and Washington line near Oak Station. Service was
> discontinued beyond Edgebrook Avenue, on Brookline Boulevard, after 1909.
> In 1910, West Liberty Avenue was double-tracked, giving Brookline a complete
> double-track system and greatly improving the service.
>
> Ways To Travel
> Transportation to Pittsburgh in the early days was by way of the narrow
> gauge Pittsburgh and Castle Shannon Railroad, which followed the general
> course of the Shannon Drake trolley line, to the Haberman Avenue Cable Car
> up Mount Washington, down the Castle Shannon Incline to the South Side, and
> then by horse car to the city. So at the turn of the century this area was
> relatively isolated from downtown Pittsburgh.
>
> Within a few short years, man made huge strides in transportation.  The
> street car tunnel under Mount Washington was opened in 1904. This was a
> phenomenal breakthrough to the South Hills. It shortened the trip to town by
> miles and by hours. It gave impetus to the West Liberty Development Company
> and other real estate firms, from 1905 to 1908, to lay out streets and lots
> in the area which was to become Brookline.
>
> All Dirt Roads
> At the turn of the century all roads were dirt and there were no sidewalks.
> The heavy traffic, which was horses, cut the roads so that in wet weather
> the mud was often axle deep. Reverend Jones of the Methodist Episcopal
> Church at the Brookline Junction, with the help of a friend, secured funds
> to purchase boards for a boardwalk. With the help of the community, the
> boards were laid from the city line to the Bell House, West Liberty Avenue.
> This was the first public improvement in the section.
> The West Liberty Improvement Company laid out in lots the section of
> Brookline in 1905. The Brookline section attracted so many people that in
> 1908 it was annexed to the city of Pittsburgh as the 44th ward. Brookline
> became the 19th ward in 1910 when the city of Allegheny was annexed to
> Pittsburgh.
>
> The Main Highway
> In the early days, Pioneer Avenue was the only main thoroughfare entering
> the city from the south. The general location of Brookline Boulevard was
> known as Hunter's Lane. The West Liberty Improvement Company developing this
> section wanted to cut a street through a certain man's property. He
> protested and sat on the bank in front of his home with a rifle to prevent
> the street from being constructed. The street was then cut along the side of
> his lot and it is now known as Wenzel Way.
>
> Was a State Road
> Pioneer Avenue was established prior to 1797 as the State Road from
> Pittsburgh to Washington and was later known as the upper road from Boggs
> Mill and also the Coal Hill and Upper St. Clair Turnpike road. It was an
> artery of major importance because it connected the old Township road (now
> Warrington Avenue) with the Morgantown Road (now Banksville Road) across Mt.
> Washington and the road from Millersville, which is at the foot of Greentree
> Road at Independence Street, West End. Wenzell Avenue, which led from
> Pioneer Avenue to Greentree Road, was laid out in 1832. West Liberty Avenue,
> along Plummer's Run, from the Bell House to Pioneer Avenue, near Potomac
> Avenue, was laid out in 1839. Inasmuch as the community had no brick yards
> or saw mills, all builders' supplies had to be hauled over this poor road,
> the wagons often sinking hub deep in mud. When the street car line was laid,
> the street was paved between the rails, only, and it remained so until 1817
> (or 1917???), when it was widened and improved. Whited Street is a former
> Township road and, with the exception of a few streets, such as McNeilly
> Road, Brookline Boulevard, and the aforementioned streets, practically all
> other streets were created by virtue of lot plan developments, principally
> by the West Liberty Development Company between 1905 and 1908, from which
> the community derived its name.
>
> Transportation Difficult
> Transportation was slow and difficult. The traveler to Pittsburgh would ride
> the narrow gauge steam Pittsburgh & Castle Shannon Railroad, take a Cable
> Dinkey up Haberman Avenue, come down Castle Shannon Incline, thence by horse
> car from Brimingham to Pittsburgh. Most of the coal mined around Brookline
> was hauled on the Castle Shannon Railroad through a tunnel, the portal of
> which was at the curve in Sycamore Street, then down to Carson Street, by an
> old coal incline. Wagons would travel via Boggs Avenue and the Shannon
> Incline, or over Mt. Washington and down the Monongahela Incline. The old
> Charleroi street car line ran along West Liberty Avenue about 1902 but the
> community still had poor access until the street car tunnels were opened
> about 1903, providing cheap and convenient mass transit to the Gold
> Triangle.
>
> Brookline Of Yesteryear - By Frank Hahn
> (reprinted from Brookline Journal, July 1956)
>
> In beginning this writing I take you back more than fifty years. Grandfather
> purchased two lots in the Huey Plan and built his home in 1901. A short time
> later my parents purchased a lot next door. My parents broke ground for our
> home in 1904. At the turn of the century, when that plan was laid out, lots
> sold for around $300. In the early 1920s, lots on Pioneer Avenue changed
> hands at from $2,000 up.
> We are now aboard a Brookline trolley car (Toonerville) at the South end of
> the tunnel (South Hills Junction in modern lingo), for the trip to
> Brookline. We swing and sway down through the barn yard to its end, and the
> switch. Here the conductor got out, threw a switch, and the motorman pulled
> onto the single track cutoff that leads to Warrington Avenue. The conductor
> threw back his switch, and threw the light giving right of way to the single
> track at Ye Old Bell House.
>
> The Bell House stood just across Saw Mill Run. An old wooden bridge spanned
> the run. Here the conductor turned off the single light. Double track
> started here and we turn onto West Liberty Avenue. Born's Hotel was on one
> corner and Elijah Lee's blacksmith shop was on the opposite corner.
> Gilfillan and Orr Feed Company was next to Born's, and a frame house was
> across the street. From there up to Cape May Avenue just a few frame houses
> stood.
>
> At Cape May Avenue was the old frame school. Here was were the Mission and
> Brookline Boulevard United Presbyterian Church originated. A few more
> scattered houses, then the Paul Coal Company mine entrance, stable and
> loading bins at the corner of Stetson Street. From here on more scattered
> houses with Zehfuss Hotel near Capital Avenue, Wilhelm's country store at
> Ray Avenue and Butcher Baker's meat market at the corner of Pauline. Where
> the Evangelical Home stands were the Knowlson and Millitzer Farms, and at
> the junction the George Kerr and Sons blacksmith shop, with the big house on
> the hill behind.
>
> Before we start up the hill let's look back on the south-east side of West
> Liberty Avenue. On the corner was the old mine entrance, the pumping station
> and air shaft.
>
> The street car wound its way over a private right of way up the hill. In
> later years the right of way was widened and paved, extending the Boulevard
> to the Junction. Present Bodkin Street was originally Hunter Avenue, then
> Brookline Boulevard until the paving of the right of way.
>
> We will now travel down the Boulevard. The car tracks were in the center, a
> private right of way unpaved, and set between the tracks were wooden poles.
> Long cross-arms were mounted atop these poles, to which were strung the
> trolley wires. I should state that Pioneer Avenue was originally Lang
> Avenue, named for William Lang. The Lang farm was at the West Liberty end,
> alongside the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railroad tracks. The name
> duplicated another Lang Avenue and the early residents decided on Pioneer
> Avenue when change was necessary.
>
> Doctor C.C. Lang had his home and office on the corner where Myer's Gas
> Station now stands. When Mr. Myer's put in his first station equipment the
> house was moved to its present site at Pioneer and Berkshire Avenues. Next
> was part of an old orchard, then W.H. William's Grocery. At the trolley car
> stop (West Point Avenue) now Wedgemere, was Hoot's Bakery. This building
> housed many business establishments until 1920.
>
> Brookline's first movie house was an open-air theatre (not drive-in) between
> a store and the engine house. Crossing Castlegate was Dooley's Grocery and
> Meats. Joe Dooley also had his own ice plant.
> Further on down the Boulevard, vacant lots, with remnants of an old orchard,
> to "Heine" Melvin's Drug Store at the corner of Stebbins From a point
> opposite Flatbush Avenue, a path cut through the field, and on an angle,
> ending beside Ed Cook's house on Berkshire Avenue.
>
> From Stebbins Avenue, more open fields to McNeilly's Grocery. This building,
> now owned by Melman's, housed stores operated by Dean Rhodes and Stevens.
> Every one of these Boulevard stores had a stable on the alley to the rear.
> The next buildings erected were an apartment and duplex near Queensboro,
> where Dr. O'Hagan, the school doctor, lived, and Sam Gigliotti's building.
> This building had two store rooms with living quarters above. Sam had his
> tailor shop in one store. and Nick Ermilino had a shoe repair shop in the
> other. Another early building was Bob Hartman's News Agency and Simon
> Zitelli's Barber Shop.
> In the triangle stood the frame building owned and occupied by the Freehold
> Real Estate Company. Between the triangle and Breining Street, Oakridge
> Avenue and Merrick Avenue was an old orchard.
> Beyond Breining Street we ran into, what was called in the olden days,
> Anderson's Acres, farm and woods. Below this was the Hayes farm. The
> original East Brookline was laid out in part from the Hayes farm.
>
> Another thing that is buried in the bygone past is picnic day, as it used to
> be.
> Most people didn;t have their own cars; or if they did the husbands used
> them to go to work, so the families would meet on picnic day at one of the
> designated stops and board the streetcars.
> One of the big stops was Creedmore. There would be hundreds of folks
> gathered there, all dressed up in summer duds and carrying big baskets of
> picnic lunches.
>
> The first picnic Brookline ever had was at Kennywood Park. The only trouble
> with that was that it was so late for the kids getting home on the
> "specials." On the car I was on, almost all the small fry were tired but no
> one was crying, because a young fellow named Joe Buch got up in front of the
> street car and sang song after song. After that first attempt, the picnics
> were all held at West View Park.
>
> Here are some other scattered facts that I remember from the old days:
> * The mules that used to work in the mines behind Edgebrook Avenue.
> * The streetcar line used to end at Creedmore Avenue, and had to be extended
> to Fairhaven so Pittsburgh Railways could keep their franchise.
>
> A little history of the Brookline's Presbyterian Church  ...
> This church dates back to December 9, 1900, when Mr. C.F. Mulholland of Bell
> House, West Liberty, suggested to his pastor, Robert H. Hood, that a Mission
> Sabbath House be organized to provide Christian instruction for the
> neighborhood children. Thirty-five young persons responded and a Sabbath
> School was started with Mr. Mulholland as Superintendant.
> The first building used by the Mission was an old blacksmith shop located
> near the south entrance to the yet unheard of Liberty Tunnels. A chapel was
> built in 1902, and formally dedicated on June 11, 1903. Due to the growth of
> the area, the Mission was relocated to West Liberty Public School in
> January, 1907.
> A congregation was established a few weeks later and services were held in
> the Public School Building until March, 1908, when the "Knowlson M.C.
> Church" was purchased and renovated. At this time the Session was known as
> the West Liberty United Presbyterian Church.
> Also, interestingly enough, during the heyday of trolley transportation in
> Brookline, our route was #39. Mrs. Carolyn Wood, my source of information on
> the above history of the church, pointed out that the Sunday school children
> were always taught a nifty way to remember the Brookline route number.
> Thirty-nine is the number of books in the old testament, and 3 times 9 is
> the number of books on the new testament. There's one for the Brookline
> trivia buffs.
>
> Using this old history as a background, I will attempt to trace the growth
> and development of Brookline as it is to-day. When Allegheny County was
> formed in 1788 Brookline was known as Lower St. Clair township. In 1876 it
> was incorporated into West Liberty Borough.
> The borough continued to grow through the years so I will try to trace the
> growth and development as best I can from the limited sources. When the
> borough was in existence the chief occupation, according to history, was
> mining. A little over thirty years ago we find that the locality was
> practically all farms. It was then a common sight in the summer evenings to
> see a constant line of market wagons on their way to the city with produce.
> In planning this favored residential district its founders realized that
> their first step must be easier connection with the City of Pittsburgh.
> The first street car line was constructed about 1900. This carline went up
> Brownsville Road and down Warrington Avenue and on out West Liberty Avenue.
> In the same year the idea of building a tunnel under Mt. Washington was
> instigated. This project was completed in 1904 and made a street car tunnel
> almost one mile in length. The street car line was then constructed through
> the tunnel. From this date the growth of this country can be traced.
>
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