[MassHistPres] "car barns" not Trolley barns

[Dennis De Witt]

Not seeing any responses to this interesting query, I will note that the proper term is "car barn" not "trolley barn" -- as witness a more than 10:1 Google hit rate for the former vs the latter.

The "trolley" is the little wheel at the end of the "trolley pole" that picked up the power for electric street cars.  The term may be related to trolling (fishing) but is said to have been introduced by its French inventor who compared the streetcar being dragged along the track by the electricity to a parisian street vendor's cart dragged along by the vender, who was known as a 'Troleur'  Long before trolley cars there were horse cars.  And both were street cars.

Here is the Union Railway Car Barn, 613-621 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA




And here is a list of RR related NR sites in Mass. that includes half a dozen car barns.

http://salisburypoint.tnsing.com/history/1826_historic_places/historic_places.html

Good luck with it,

Dennis De Witt



On Jun 10, 2010, at 4:33 PM, Tucker, Jonathan wrote:

> Amherst’s Historical Commission is reviewing an application to demolish a leaning but still intact woodframe trolley barn of uncertain age (1890—1910).  Slate roof, large overhang on one side, curved wood cladding that creates a tunnel-like interior.  The powerhouse is gone, but other elements survive.
>  
> Are there are any other comparable structures still existing in Massachusetts?
>  
> Jonathan Tucker
> Planning Director
> Amherst Planning Department
> 4 Boltwood Avenue, Town Hall
> Amherst, MA  01002
> (413) 259-3040
> tuckerj at amherstma.gov    
>  
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