Trolley System & Paved Roads

In the 1880s the Findlay Street Railway Company first offered the first public transportation in our community, beginning as a horse-drawn streetcar line.  This connected downtown with surrounding neighborhoods and industrial spots, especially important during the Gas Boom!  Cars were a new invention and very expensive, so most people would walk, ride bikes, or keep horses - but they were also expensive, so trolleys were a great option.  And, it was affordable - a ride in the street car could be as little as five cents! The company eventually made the switch from horses to electric streetcars, making it faster and more efficient.  

By the early 1900’s Findlay Street Railway Company was purchased by a larger company and Ohio Electric Railway became the streetcar company. By 1907 Ohio Electric was able to connect Findlay with Toledo, Lima, Dayton, Springfield, and Columbus.  During World War I Ohio Electric struggled, and after the war many people began to purchase cars and less would ride the trolley.  By the 1930’s the trolleys were no longer used, but the lines were discovered buried under today's roads during Main Street construction in Downtown Findlay!
 

Can you imagine all the road your grown-ups drive on being dirt or brick? For a long time that was the case, especially in villages that surround Findlay. Many of the villages take note of when the first paved roads came to their communities because it was a milestone towards progress.  The push for county-wide rural paved highways gained traction in the 1910s and 1920s with the establishment of major auto trails.  Railroad towns, like McComb and Rawson, often developed paving for trucks to deliver goods to the trains. Arlington’s Main Street was among the earliest in the county to have paved roads as it became part of US 68, as did Mt. Blanchard’s Main Street becoming part of OH 37.  Many of the villages’ roads slowly progressed from dirt to gravel to paved, first with brick and many of them not seeing concrete or asphalt roads until after World War II in the village limits, with county roads not being paved until well after!