[A Trolley Car of the] Mineral Wells Electric System

Description

A "Major" J[ohn]. D[avis]. Beardsley (1837-1911)--a Canadian who fought for the Union (for Maine) in the Civil war--built an electric trolley line that ran from North Oak, south to the train depot, west to Pecan Street (NW 4th Avenue), south on Pecan Street, to the ridge in the Lowe Place Addition, west to Pollard Creek, where Mr. Beardsley (as Head of the Electric Company) laid out Elmhurst Park (q.v.). A cross-line on Hubbard street ran east to Elmwood Cemetery. By the end of 1906, Beardsley owned sixteen cars, running on approximately ten miles of track right from the start. The … continued below

Creation Information

Creator: Unknown. 1907?/1913?.

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This photograph is part of the collection entitled: A. F. Weaver Collection and was provided by the Boyce Ditto Public Library to The Portal to Texas History, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 507 times. More information about this photograph can be viewed below.

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Description

A "Major" J[ohn]. D[avis]. Beardsley (1837-1911)--a Canadian who fought for the Union (for Maine) in the Civil war--built an electric trolley line that ran from North Oak, south to the train depot, west to Pecan Street (NW 4th Avenue), south on Pecan Street, to the ridge in the Lowe Place Addition, west to Pollard Creek, where Mr. Beardsley (as Head of the Electric Company) laid out Elmhurst Park (q.v.). A cross-line on Hubbard street ran east to Elmwood Cemetery. By the end of 1906, Beardsley owned sixteen cars, running on approximately ten miles of track right from the start. The route for this interurban was laid out by"Major" Beardsley. A man named Gid R.Turner proposed a rival line.
A Weatherford newspaper of 1906 reported that an interurban, but "Major" Beardsley denied the report. (In August 1907, Turner was required by Weatherford to tell his intentions. He made no answer.) Neither line was ever built, perhaps due to the Panic of 1907, because by December of that year, the Beardsley enterprise was declared "Dead." Portions of the tracks were removed near the water wells dug by Mr. Ed Dismuke (q.v., in the description field.). Beardsley was unable to execute the re-purchase options of his he investments of "Major",Beardsley were bought by a syndicate of his creditors, including one D[avid] T[yler] Bomar, as "Major" Beardsley had obtained a loan of $200,000 from that syndicate, using his (Beardsley's) land and railroad holdings as collateral. The Fidelity Trust Company (with Bomar as president) was then set up. Beardsley was unable to execute the re-purchase option that he had set up, and the syndicate bought his properties.
The quotation marks around "Major" might appear invidious, but research has not yet discovered when--or if--he was ever promoted to the level of Major. He had built two railroads by the time he had instituted the Mineral Wells trolley system, and may have had a hand in the building of Elmhurst Park.
The picture of the trolley is taken from a Mineral Wells Special, dated tentatively around 1907.

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A. F. Weaver Collection

This colorful panorama covers Mineral Wells' founding and its mercurial growth as a resort center and army town to the present. Photos are from local historian and photographer A.F. Weaver, local families and research sources.

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  • 1907?/1913?

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  • 1907 - 1913

Added to The Portal to Texas History

  • Nov. 28, 2006, 1:32 a.m.

Description Last Updated

  • May 7, 2018, 5:12 p.m.

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[A Trolley Car of the] Mineral Wells Electric System, photograph, 1907?/1913?; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth20351/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boyce Ditto Public Library.

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