The lumbering boom came to Muskegon so suddenly that it arrived far ahead of adequate transportation. In 1850, a stagecoach trip between Muskegon and Ravenna still required an entire day. By 1859, a trip by stage between Muskegon and Ferrysburg took only three and a half hours (for the cost of a dollar) but there had to be a better way.

Then railroad fever hit West Michigan. In 1869, F.A. Nims, Lyman C. Mason, Major C. Davis, R.S. Sanford, A. Rogers, and others formed the Muskegon and Ferrysburg Railroad Company to replace the stage. By January of 1870, trains were running on a regular schedule. In that same year, W.S. Gerrish introduced the narrow gauge railroad to the logging industry in Muskegon. It was a major improvement over iced roads and high-wheeled drags the lumber industry until then employed.

The Muskegon and Ferrysburg line almost immediately merged with lines connecting Grand Haven, Holland, and Allegan. The combination, which was first called the Michigan Lake Shore Railroad and next called the Grand Haven Railroad, was absorbed by the Chicago and West Michigan Line in 1881. A decade later the line would be extended to the Lake Harbor resort.

Meanwhile, another group in 1886 built a line to connect with the Toledo, Ann Arbor, and Northern Michigan line. That was the birth of the Toledo, Saginaw, and Muskegon company. It was absorbed by the Grand Trunk system shortly after completion in 1887.

It was about this same time that L.N. Keating and Newcomb McGraft, who had been working for several years to start another line, were joined by W.O. Hughart. W.R. Shelby, and T.J. O’Brian of Grand Rapids, to form the Muskegon, Grand Rapids, and Indiana railroad company. The line operated successfully until 1896 when it was absorbed by the Pennsylvania system.

The Union Depot was built in 1894 at Sixth Street and Western Avenue, and five years later the Chicago and West Michigan became part of the Pere Marquette Railroad system.

The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was operating the old Union Depot when Muskegon men enlisted for service in WWI between 1914 and 1917. Today, the old depot has a new life as Muskegon’s tourist bureau.

Rail transportation also developed with the city of Muskegon. In 1882, horses and mules were pulling streetcars along three and one half miles of track within the city until they were finally replaced by electric cars in 1890.

Streetcars were an interesting lot. They had a schedule to keep and sometimes disrupted parades and other street festivals.

On August 6, 1919, the Muskegon Traction and Lighting Company raised the streetcar fare from six to seven cents. The result was a riot that involved thousands of people and destroyed at least sixteen cars and other company property. There was one death.

The erosion of revenue due to the automobile continued, and the company discontinued service October 19, 1929, and sold or scrapped the equipment. Just three years earlier the Interurban ceased carrying passengers and freight between Grand Rapids, Grand Haven, and Muskegon. The brief age of railway dominance in Muskegon was ending.

George D. Parrish
Access: The Key to Muskegon County Small Business
May 1996