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Onondaga County, New York, circa 1905. "Streetcar depot, Long Branch Park. Syracuse, Lake Shore and Northern Railroad." An interesting glimpse of the interurban system that served Syracuse and neighboring towns until the 1930s. 8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co. View full size.
A 1950s American Heritage article, "Goodbye to the Interurban," recalls how a person could pay a nickel in New York City and ride using transfers to Syracuse, then take a regular train for 20 miles, then pay another nickel and ride to Chicago using transfers -- all on interurbans, except for that 20-mile gap. Sounds like a grueling trip, but cheap.
The last of the interurban lines in Onondaga County's Syracuse NY area were dismantled about 1932. The advent of automobiles had eroded their primary function of connecting local village/town centers.
Long Branch Park remains, however, and remains a pleasant wooded gathering spot in the outer Syracuse area for events such as car shows, ethnic festivals, picnics and exhibits.
Little did they know: since about 1915 it's been all downhill.
Somewhere I picked up a story that, at one time, a person could get halfway across the country by hopping from one interurban line to the next. I do not know if this is true, but there sure were a lot them.
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