On May 3, 1897 E. K. Freed withdrew his proposition to the borough and asked that it be given no further consideration whatever in order that the question of the borough operating its own electric light plant might be considered without prejudice.
Borough council appointed a committee of three to interview Mr. Freed and see what arrangements, if any, could be made with him for operating an electric plant within the borough. Four days later, the following resolution was adopted by council:
“Resolved, that articles of agreement be made with a proposed Electric Light and Power plant to be known as The North Wales Electric Light and Power Plant, as soon as it was incorporated, under which the said proposed company shall be given the franchise to plant poles and string wires in the streets of the borough. Said franchise to be exclusive for ten years, and a contract to light the streets of the borough for a period of ten years, with not less than fifty 25 candle power lights at the rate of $12 per year per light, be entered into with said proposed Light Company.”
On June 7, council ordered the proper officials to enter into the agreement with E. K. Freed for street lighting.
For a number of years the railroad crossings and the speed of the trains through the borough had caused council considerable concern. There had been people killed by the trains at all four crossings in the town, and the situation had reached the point where council and the railroad company were at a standstill on the question of protecting the public at these crossings.
Finally, on December 5, 1892, the matter of the railroad crossings was again discussed by council and the borough solicitors were instructed to notify the railroad company to reduce the speed of running the trains to the requirements of the law, or else put up safety gates at both the Main street and the Walnut street crossings. Ten days later, council passed the following ordinance:
“No locomotive, engine, tender, cars or other carriages used on the railroad within the limits of the borough shall be propelled or drawn through the borough at a rate exceeding 5 miles per hour, and if any such engine, tender, car or carriage shall be propelled or drawn at a greater rate than five miles per hour, the owner, whether company or individual or individuals, engineer, conductor, agent or other persons having the same in charge, shall forfeit and pay for the first offense the sum of $2 and the sum of $5 for every subsequent offense with the costs of suit.”
At the meeting of June 6, 1893, President of Council, R. R. Freed, read a communication from the Railroad Company proposing to put a flagman at the Walnut street crossing. The proposition was accepted and the ordinance mentioned above was laid on the table. The reader will notice that over a year passed before the Railroad Company offered protection for these crossings. While the minutes of the council are void of any mention of the matter for over a year, nevertheless there must have been considerable discussion between council and the railroad company on such a serious matter.
Another means of transportation was discussed in 1899 when, on September 12, council granted permission to the Inland Traction Company the right to construct and operate a street railway on the streets of the borough. In 1901 the name of the Inland Traction Company was changed to the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley Traction Company.
On July 2, 1900 the borough, being desirous of opening Pennsylvania avenue south to Washington avenue from the railroad, purchased the ground from Isaac G. Freed for $150, with the Inland Traction Company to pay $100 of the above cost.
[Steam railroads at that time considered the new electric trolley lines to be upstart competitors, and refused to allow trolley tracks to cross at-grade. Often the solution arrived at was for the trolley promoters to either tunnel under or bridge over the railroad, as was the case here in North Wales.]
A petition was presented to council asking that a bridge be built on Pennsylvania avenue over the railroad. Council agreed to comply and a new bridge was ordered built. On April 21, 1902, a contract to build the bridge was let to F. J. Crilly of Souderton. The cost of this bridge was borne jointly by the borough and the Lehigh Valley Traction Company.
We quote from the North Wales Record of July 19, 1902, “The steel overhead bridge of the Lehigh Valley Traction Company at North Wales is 110 feet 8 inches in length by 30 feet wide, with a height of 24 feet above the Reading railroad tracks. It will accommodate one trolley track, with sidewalks on either side thereof. The cost of the work will be about $10,000. The piers will be 56 feet long, 11 feet high and 12 feet thick. From Pennsylvania avenue the trolley tracks will turn north on Washington street, to the Sumneytown pike. The work, which will require some time, is being rushed forward as rapidly as possible.” The concrete abutments for the bridge were completed on August 15, 1902.
The text of this post is sourced from a column entitled Early North Wales: Its History and Its People penned by long-time North Wales resident historian Leon T. Lewis. The article appeared in its original form in the November 17, 1959 issue of the North Penn Reporter