This week I’ve been reading (skimming) this book about Lebanon and its history. Written by the Warren County Historical Society, it summarizes a lot of different aspects of Lebanon life. We’ve had the book around my house since the bicentennial, and it was recently suggested that it might be helpful in my railroad research.
Sadly, the book is a little light on railroad info. There is a section on “transportation” including the canal and the traction lines, but the railroad is less than a page of this section. It offers a brief summary of the efforts of Lebanon to get a railroad, but the view of the book can basically be summarized in its own quote: “Railroading has not been a vital part of Lebanon’s history, as the trains here came relatively late…”
The information itself is light on details. For instance, the book notes that Lebanon’s turntable was “West of Sycamore and East of West Street”. This is a huge block and doesn’t help me at all to place the turntable. My efforts to find it continue.
This book does have its uses, however. What it is good for is a collection of the changing architecture of Lebanon. There are a number of pages with photos of historic houses, their locations, and some notable changes throughout the years. While none of these homes were located directly track side (with the exception of the mansions in the Glendower area) they would be useful prototypes to model for the era of the town.
The biggest detail I found was the history of the “Miller’s Antique Market”. I had thought his trackside building was some sort of warehouse. It turns out it was a gas station originally, and had since been completely enclosed (p. 178).
Some other details of note:
- Columbus Ave and possibly Utica was named as of 1892 (p. 154)
- Bank building was there bu 1940 (p. 155)
- Blue Heron Studios was once a gas station (no date – b&w photo) (p. 155)
- Golden Turtle Chocolate Factory
- Taxi Stand near tracks was relocated from East Mulberry (p. 181)
- Trolley was there as of 1913, also a good building shot on this page (p.189)
was once the Motor Inn, auto repair and sales business (p. 179)
More details and scans to come…
