Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Sunday, October 16, 2016
photos/EverythingWestport.com except as
noted
State Representative Paul Schmid Achieves
Perfect Score in ELM Action Fund.
Old Harbor Habitat Improvement Scheduled
to Begin this Month.
Should Westport stop serving after three?
Trolley car documentary recalls trips to Lincoln Park.
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State Rep.
Paul Schmid achieves perfect acore in ELM Action Fund. Westport State Representative
Paul Schmid achieves perfect score in ELM Action Fund Environmental
Legislative Scorecard. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday, October 18, 2016
“When it came to votes this session, Rep. Schmid supported our
pro-environment agenda, but didn’t stop there. Schmid demonstrated
leadership on conservation. The ELM Action Fund is pleased to recognize him
as an environmental champion,” said ELM Action Fund President George Bachrach. “We look forward to continued work together to
protect our environment, improve public health, enhance quality of life, and
grow our green economy.” “I am truly honored to be recognized
by the ELM Action Fund as an environmental leader in the Massachusetts
Legislature,” said Schmid. “I look forward to the next legislative
session to continue promoting the Commonwealth’s landscape and natural
resources.” Beyond votes, the ELM Action Fund awarded additional points to lawmakers
who led by sponsoring important legislation or authored “Dear Colleague”
letters, and deducted points from legislators who filed anti-environment
legislation. The ELM Action Fund also challenges lawmakers for the
practice of “voice votes” on controversial issues which are not recorded roll
call votes. This practice prevents voters from truly gauging which
representatives and senators are truly on their side. “Legislative
scorecards are common but this is unique, measuring leadership, not just
votes,” said Bachrach. “This is our best effort to
give voters a sense of who is really on their side in the critically
important work that takes place out of public view.” To
view the scorecard, visit bit.ly/scores15. Old Harbor Habitat improvement scheduled to begin this Month. WLCT asks that hikers please be advised that this forest management
activity is taking place, and to be aware of the on-gong cutting and
maintenance at the Old Harbor Wildlife Refuge. EverythingWestport.com Wednesday, October 12, 2016
New forestry activity including selective cutting will begin at the Old
Harbor Wildlife Refuge which will be done to improve the health of the
forest. The Westport Land Conservation Trust (WLCT) along with state licensed forester, Rupert Grantham
will be completing a small select cut of the property. This active forestry
will improve nutrient recycling and hardwood regeneration while protecting
the conservation values of this special place. “It is undeniable that our forests have been undergoing some changes in
recent years,” said Brendan Buckless, Outreach and
Stewardship Coordinator for the Trust. “The impacts of invasive species and
climate change have been difficult for many of our older hardwood trees. This
habitat improvement plan is necessary for improving wildlife habitat while
also promoting old growth characteristics in a relatively young forest.” WLCT asks
that hikers please be advised that this forest management activity is taking
place, and to be aware of the on-gong cutting at the Old Harbor Wildlife
Refuge. This activity will not impact road conditions along Old Harbor Road,
and will be completed before next summer. Should
Westport stop serving after three? EverythingWestport.com Friday, October 14, 2016 Should Westport stop
serving after three! Selectmen had no answers when
recently questioned why the town had six, full liquor/beer/wine retail
licenses (package store license) when the town’s federal census population only
warranted three. Maybe the town’s seasonal population allowed for additional licenses,
Selectmen theorized. The issue came to light when the owner of Country Liquor and Variety on
Sanford Road objected to the transfer of a full package store license to
Supreme Gas on 174 State Road, who previously requested a transfer to the gas
and variety store combo from the previous owner. Country Liquor correctly claimed the town should only be allocated
three according to the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission’s (ABCC) guidelines. So why does Westport have six? Subsequent to some additional research, Selectmen also questioned
whether the three additional licenses were issued directly to individuals,
and could only be used by those licensees and not transferred or sold to
another party. The truth of the matter is a little more complicated. Back in 1981 and 1983 special Town Meeting voted to authorize Selectmen
to petition the State Attorney’s office for a combined three additional
package store licenses. There were no long-term conditions attached to those licenses and,
according to the ABCC, could be sold or transferred
in the same manner as the original three allocated to the town. The ABCC has set a
maximum of one package store license per 5,000 residents; the
town's 15,400 residential population would qualify for three licenses.
Residential population is determined by the federal census every 10 years. So why did Westport, way back when, petition
for three additional licenses? That information has probably been consigned to
the dustbins of history. Today, according to ABCC
licensing staff member, Hurshel Langham, a home rule petition authorized by Town
Meeting would request approval for additional license(s) from the State
Legislature and Senate and, if granted, would have to be approved and signed
off by the Governor. Now you know the rest of the story. Trolley car documentary recalls
trips to Lincoln Park. EverythingWestport.com Sunday, October 16, 2016
Special Correspondent to
EverythingWestport.com DARTMOUTH – Once upon a time, thousands of area residents would climb
aboard the electric trolley cars running from Fall River and New Bedford each
weekend and take leisurely rides out to the countryside to visit the region’s
premier recreational attraction, Lincoln Park. Few local residents remember such trolley car excursions, as the last
run to Lincoln Park took place more than 70 years ago, when the growing
popularity of private cars and public bus lines put the trolley lines out of
business. All that remain of that once-popular mode of transportation is the
grassy median strip in the center of double-barreled State Road, where the
rails that used to guide the trolleys beneath the overhead electric lines
were once located.
Inset: Documentary
filmmaker Paul Levasseur shows his audience
artifacts from the days of trolley cars, including the red kerosene lamp used
to warn motorists that a trolley car was approaching. Before the movie, Levasseur, who specializes
in historic modes of transportation, spent a half hour detailing the rise and
fall of the trolley cars used in this area. The pre-show lecture started with
the introduction of horse-drawn trolleys in the middle of the 1800s, used to carry passengers departing trains on the
outskirts of New Bedford to the downtown hotels and businesses, and the
waterfront where visitors could make connections to the steamships that would
carry them to Martha’s Vineyard and the Elizabethan Islands. It didn’t take long before the growing numbers of visitors prompted the
laying of steel tracks under electric power lines running from the Pearl
Street rail station to the center of the city around 1870, and the
introduction of trolley cars powered by electric motors, the historian said. Levasseur noted
that the term “trolley car” came from the brass pulley which connected the
steel-wheeled carriages to the electric lines that powered its electric
engines. Soon, a branch line ran over the Acushnet River to Fairhaven, and
the street railway network kept expanding over the years, providing
transportation both for local workers and visiting tourists. Eventually, the rail lines were built throughout the city, and then out
into the suburbs; one line from the west end of the city was extended to
carry folks to the cemetery just over the Dartmouth line, and on to Smith
Mills. The trolley line was extended all the way to Fall River in 1894. Another trolley line in the south end of the city was extended in 1898,
going past Bliss Corner and into South Dartmouth, ending at the yacht club on
Elm Street in Padanaram. That line continued service until 1935, when the
trolleys were replaced by buses. By the turn of the century, local trolley lines were providing service
to Fall River, and allowed residents access to the railway and steamship lines
running to Newport, Providence, Boston and New York. The Dartmouth and
Westport Street Railway would carry passengers, mail bags, and commercial
freight between the two cities until 1933, Levasseur
reported. Dartmouth &
Westport Lines The 45-minute documentary aired after his introductory remarks focused
for the most part on the trolley lines that served Dartmouth and Westport.
Before Lincoln Park was developed, the Westport Factory complex off State Road
in North Westport was a regular stop on the Dartmouth line, bringing dozens
of factory workers to the mill complex every workday. Then some street railway executive had the bright idea that the new
line through Dartmouth could be made more profitable by promoting weekend
excursions into the countryside for city dwellers. The company bought a large
piece of woodland on State Road near the Westport line in 1894, and named the
picnic grove Lincoln Park, Levasseur’s film
narration explained. The little picnic spot grew so popular that more and more amenities
were added over the years, and a second trolley line had to be added. When
the state got around to expanding State Road to two lanes in both directions,
the trolley lines ran down the median strip of the busy highway. Still photographs incorporated into the film presentation showed
hundreds of visitors disembarking the trolleys on weekend visits. Eventually,
trains of up to five large trolley cars – both open and closed carriages – were
carrying thousands of folks from Fall River, New Bedford, and points beyond every
weekend to what would become the region’s biggest amusement park, with its
own trolley station and car barn. But within a few decades, the growing popularity of the automobile
contributed to the slow decline of the trolley car business. Buses became a
more convenient form of transportation for the masses, and began replacing
the electric trolleys in many places in the 1930s. The trolley cars running out to Lincoln Park remained in limited
service for another 15 years, the film reported. The streetcar line became
less and less profitable, however, and “the last trolley to Lincoln Park ran
on Sunday, April 28, 1946,” Levasseur said. The film ended with Levasseur’s 2010
interview with the late Steven Howland, one of the last motormen to work for
the Union Street Railway Company before it stopped all trolley car operations
in 1947. Then, the Dartmouth resident switched to driving buses for the
company. The local bus company sold most of its trolleys to a New York company,
and a few ended up in trolley car museums in Connecticut or Maine, Levasseur noted. The final scenes in the documentary brought the story line back to New
Bedford, where rare 35 millimeter film footage from the early 1900s showed some of the first electric trolleys fighting
horse-drawn carriages and primitive motorcars for a piece of the narrow city
streets. Those days are gone forever, but thanks to Levasseur’s
years of research and fine documentary film, the memories of those days gone
by live on today, and are preserved for the next generations to come.
Above, left: A
display of artifacts from the trolley car era that documentary producer Paul Levasseur has collected to help illustrate the days
portrayed in his 2011 film, Trolley Cars of Dartmouth. The signboard for
Lincoln Park came off a car that served the most popular destination on the
Dartmouth/Westport line. Above, right: At far right, the brass pulley,
known as a trolley that gave electric trolley cars their name. The electrified
copper wires running through the pulleys carried power to the cars' electric
motors. © 2016 Community Events of
Westport. All rights reserved. EverythingWestport.com |
