EARLY DANBURY-MARBLEHEAD PENINSULA TRANSPORTATION - Lorrie Halblaub

The Railroads- Part 1

Because the Lake Erie shipping industry was curtailed during the winter when the lakes were frozen, the idea of building a railroad gained traction locally as a mode of transportation that was year-round.

The first railroad company to lay track anywhere on the Marblehead Peninsula was the Northern Division of the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad. In order to cross the waters of Sandusky Bay, a 700-foot railroad bridge had to be built. That slowed down the completion of the railroad line, but eventually the train was up and running in 1854. The trains stopped at Danbury, at the southwest corner of the peninsula, before travelling west to Port Clinton, Oak Harbor, and ending in Toledo. On the east end, the trains stopped in Sandusky, Vermilion, Lorain, and then Cleveland. However, it only was used for three years before lack of business and a national financial collapse shut it down.

The Civil War, the steel industry, and other events rekindled new interest and new investors. In 1869, the Lake Shore Railroad formed. In 1872, that company reopened the Sandusky Bay railroad bridge. Trains again stopped in Danbury. Peninsula residents could travel by horse on unpaved roads to Danbury to catch a train that could take them to east to New York and west to Chicago. In fact, by connecting with other trains, they could travel the whole country. However, that access still did not help quarrymen like Alexander Clemons. It was not cost effective to move stone overland from Marblehead to Danbury.

The need for a railroad grew exponentially, spurred on by the lucrative quarry industry, the founding of Lakeside as a destination for people from all over, and a burgeoning population on the peninsula due to the influx of quarry workers from Europe. So, after a series of starts and stops, the Lakeside & Marblehead Railroad Company was formed in 1886. Land was quickly purchased and graded, track was laid, stations were built, and locomotives were ordered.

The Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad opened in January of 1887. It ran 7.35 miles from Danbury, where it connected with the Lakeshore and Michigan Southern Railroad, and from there it ran east to Marblehead where it turned around. The L & M was the smallest railroad line in the United States. The line cost $260,000 to build. There were 14 employees and two stations, one in Lakeside and one in Marblehead. In addition, two flag stops with small shelters serviced the farm areas of Violet (Church Road) and Picolo (Englebeck Road). The L & M was nicknamed “The Little Money Railroad,” but the investors were hoping to make BIG money!

By March of 1891, the Kelley Island Lime & Transport Company purchased the L & M Railroad to transport stone, and the freight traffic grew. This move led to the consolidation of all the quarries on the peninsula, and eventually to the BIG money the investors had foreseen.

(to be continued next month)