At its peak in the early decades of the 20th century, the Berkshire Street Railway operated an electric trolley car system that was one of the longest in the United States. The company ran trolleys within four states, clanging from Canaan, Conn., through numerous Berkshire towns to Bennington, Vt. and Hoosick Falls, N.Y. Two spur lines brought service from Great Barrington to South Egremont, and from Lee to Huntington.
Operators of the trolley shown above posed along South Main Street in Great Barrington, circa 1912. This view is just south of the present-day Great Barrington Historical Society barns marked with an arrow. The trolley line had snowplows to clear the rails before most towns had highway plow trucks.
As the automobile became more affordable and popular, travel by electric rail declined. The company was further challenged by political/legal problems, strikes, coal shortages for generating electric power, and several severe winters. The final trolley entered Great Barrington on January 28, 1930.
