Anna Bartlett Seavey views First Trolley to come through Salisbury Massachusetts

Mary Anna Bartlett 1882-1919 d. of Anthony Willis Bartlett and Mary Abbie Morrill of Salisbury, Massachusetts. She was known as "Anna" married George Seavey (1875-1943) son of Charles Seavey and Hattie McDaniel.  A photo of Anna watching the first trolley come through Salisbury, Massachusetts. Thanks to Donna Bartlett of Bartletts Farm for this photo.

According to the Amesbury City Site: Amesbury and Newburyport have been closely connected from the earliest days of the settlements and the earliest street railroads were between the two towns with horse drawn cars. Newburyport Car Company, in 1886, was the first to build cars for the its line to Amesbury. Ellis Car Co. started in 1889 and Briggs Car Co. followed in 1890. Both of these were in Amesbury. All three companies had cars running on the same lines and built cars for other railways throughout the country. The railways that are featured here encompasses the Merrimac Valley and the towns of Exeter and Hampton New Hampshire that had connections to Amesbury. They were very small and connected to each other so as to complete longer lines. The Plum Island Railway ran from one end Northern Boulevard to end of Southern Boulevard, Black Rock and Salisbury Beach Railway first ran from Black Rock on the southern end to the Seabrook Line on the northern end. Later it was extended to the Hampton River; The Newburyport & Amesbury Railway ran from the center of Plum Island to Market Square in Amesbury via the Chain Bridge and Main Street with a line from Amesbury to Merrimac via River Road to Merrimacport and on to Merrimac Center. Exeter, Hampton, and Amesbury Railway was from Exeter to Hampton Beach Casino with a line from Smithtown in Seabrook to Market Square in Amesbury. All of these became a part of the history of trolley cars in Amesbury.

There were five trolley railways plus the B. M. Railroad, connected to Amesbury: Newburyport and Amesbury, Haverhill and Amesbury; Hampton and Amesbury, Haverhill, Plaistow, and Newton, and Exeter, Hampton, & Amesbury. This is the reason why it was called THE HUB. All trolley travelers West and North of Amesbury wanting to travel to the Seacoast had to come through Amesbury.