History of the Cambridge Springs trolley station

The local newspaper described this brand new facility as having a front pavilion, waiting room, ticket office, separate toilet rooms for each sex, express office and freight office. They also noted the basement to be used for the furnace and storage of coal. With the exception of the removal of the express and freight offices by the gas station owners in the 1930’s, it looks very similar today as it did the day it was dedicated.

Today this local treasure remains the last trolley station standing between Cleveland, Buffalo and Pittsburgh. In addition to being an active museum it is also available and used for the many who wish to take advantage of its warm atmosphere for a number of events including scheduled meetings, reunions, holiday parties, baby showers, bridal showers and even a few weddings. 

Renovation began in 2009 by volunteers and today it has been restored very similar to the day it was dedicated in 1910. Among the volunteers who gave their time none have been more appreciated then the electrical students from the Crawford County Career and Technical School. These dedicated young men and women gave hundreds of hours to the task of completely rewiring and bringing the entire building up to the local electrical code. 

The importance of the station’s activities between 1910 and 1928 cannot be stressed enough. The trolleys came into the station every day beginning at 6:00am daily and running every hour until 11:00pm. It opened up a whole new world to so many people. In the days of horse and buggy, this route would suddenly permit people living between Erie and Cambridge Springs to work in local establishments and those local to work daily in the Erie area and all places in-between. 

The first commuters to Edinboro Normal School would arrive and leave daily via the trolley. In addition to serving individuals, the freight that came into and out of the station was extensive. Shipped out were such items as lumber and dairy products from area farms and logging operations north of Cambridge Springs and one of the more important products coming into the station and distributed north was a great amount of coal.

One interesting fact that delights individuals who visit the station was that on October 26, 1912 President William Howard Taft came to Cambridge Springs to dedicate the newly formed Alliance College. Later that afternoon he came to the trolley station in Cambridge where he boarded one of the trolley cars and traveled off to Edinboro Normal School where he proceeded to give a rather controversial speech to the young students waiting to hear his words. He then boarded back onto the trolley and returned to the station where he proceeded to cross the tracks and board the presidential car awaiting him to returned to Washington.

All of us who have dedicated our time to this wonderful historic building known as the Cambridge Springs Trolley Station are proud of the work that has been completed to bring the station not only back, as close as possible, to its original state but also being able to create a venue that can be used and appreciated by all who chose to take advantage of the many things it offers. Our only wish is that it will continue to not only serve as a nostalgic museum of a wonderful era gone by, but also to be enjoyed by all generations to come.