Monday, April 28, 2014

Arcanum Wayne Trail Historical Society Provides a Peak into Local History

Take time to walk along S. Main St. in Arcanum were the street is being prepared to be repaved. You can see the original brick laid in the early 1900s. Take a close look and you can see where the tracks for the Ohio Electric Railway were, right down the middle of the street.

These small electrically powered cars entered Darke County from Montgomery County near Gordon, with stops in Ithaca, Arcanum, Abbottsville, Greenville then up to Union City into Indiana.

Imagine what it was like for our grandparents and parents to get on the "traction" at the Traction Depot located at 6 N. Main Street., go to the Darke County Fair, go to Dayton for dinner or the theatre, visit family and not have to ride in a buggy or early cars over the bumpy roads of those times. And, get there much faster.

This interurban system provided efficient passenger service through this area from 1901 through 1927. Photos of the electric cars and also an early Darke County map showing roads and railroads can be view at the Arcanum Wayne Trail Historical Society.

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