The Trolley in Mountain Lakes
1910 – 1928
The popular paved path used for walking, jogging, and biking along the length of the Boulevard in Mountain Lakes, originally known as “Trolley Track Walk” is a vestige of the Morris Country Traction Company’s (MCT) Trolley line network, which operated for nearly two decades in the early 20th Century. During its operating existence, from 1910 to 1928, the single trolley cars ran the 4.9 mile “Boonton Branch” route from Denville to Boonton from 6:00 AM to 12:00 midnight at 30-minute intervals, in each direction.
The MCT’s Boonton Branch began in Denville, at the intersection of Bloomfield Avenue and East Main Street (just before the Route 46 overpass), which is at present home to the “Nail House of Denville”. This location served as the junction point with the Morristown Line, at which riders could change trolley lines to transfer through to Morristown on one of the three main routes operated by MCT.
Morris County Traction Co Route Map
The Morristown Line ran from Denville to the Green at Morristown along what is now Route 53, through Mount Tabor, Morris Plains and then onto Speedwell Avenue into Morristown. At the other end of the Boonton Branch, the trolley proceeded into Boonton, after leaving Mountain Lakes, past what is now the Del’s Village shopping center, and onto Main Street, before turning left onto Division Street, and ending at the Boonton Lackawanna Train Station, which had been built in 1904. The Grand Opening of the Boonton Branch was held on July 1st 1910.
Chartered in June of 1889, MCT began service on Blackwell Street in Dover in June of 1903. In 1904 service was extended into Wharton and Rockaway. The trolley cars were powered by overhead electrical wires, with the electricity for the system generated by a coal-fired power station located in Dover. By 1909, MCT was operating three unconnected lines, with the first run of the Dover-Morristown line conducted in August of 1910. The 50.5 mile system was completed in 1914, with the main line linking Stanhope to Chatham, and ultimately, the City of Newark; riders could also take day excursions with service connecting to popular recreation areas and beaches at Lake Hopatcong. At its peak year of operation in 1920, the MCT lines operated 42 trolley cars system-wide, and carried 7.7 million passengers. Sadly, however, the MCT was never profitable, and ceased operations in February of 1928, to be replaced by local bus service.
Construction on the Boonton Branch Trolley Line from Denville began in 1909, with the original plan for the tracks to run through a wooded area, including what was known as “Rattlesnake Swamp” which is now part of the Tourne County Park. This route was abandoned after some of the track construction disappeared into the mud over the winter and spring. (The remaining raised track bed is still discernable, and used as part of the Ogden Trail, linking Birchwood Lake to the Tourne). In 1910, Herbert Hapgood, as construction of new homes in the Mountain Lakes residential development plan was underway, was able to entice MCT to reroute the proposed Boonton Branch through the incipient new community, and roughed out a new thoroughfare for the development along which the tracks would run: The Boulevard. The track route was then changed to proceed farther south down Bloomfield Avenue (present-day Route 46), before turning east along what was to become the Boulevard; parts of the trolley track bed are visible near the parking lot of Saint Catherine of Siena Church (built in 1958 at 10 North Pocono Road), and along past the Park Lakes Tennis Club, as well as behind the hardware store and diner on Route 46 West).
The cars in use on the Boonton Branch were 28 feet long, enclosed, and could carry up to 32 passengers. Stops along the Boulevard in Mountain Lakes included Crane Road, Lake Drive, Briarcliff Road and Glen Road. A key marketing point for Mr. Hapgood, as he sold his new construction targeting New York City residents seeking “country estate living” was the trolley service to the Boonton Train Station, from which commuters could travel by train into Hoboken, and thence to New York City. In 1912, two years after the Boulevard trolley service began, the Mountain Lakes Train Station was completed, offering direct rail service to Mountain Lakes commuters. For Mountain Lakes shoppers and students who attended high school in either Morristown or Boonton until the opening of the Mountain Lakes High School (now Briarcliff Middle School) in 1938, the trolley continued to be an essential means of transportation to the neighboring towns until replaced by busses in 1928.
Shortly following the demise of MCT’s trolley service, the people of Mountain Lakes voted to remove the tracks and transform the former track line into “Trolley Track Walk”, for the benefit of Borough residents, and others who to this day continue to enjoy strolling along an important historic legacy of Mountain Lakes.
The trolley in operation along the Boulevard.
Tracks along the newly roughed-out Boulevard in 1910.
The trolley tracks on the Boulevard at Tower Hill Road.
The Boulevard looking toward Rt. 46, with the Glen Road Trolley Stop visible on the right.
The Grand Opening of the Boonton Branch was held on July 1st, 1910, on Main Street in Boonton, with local dignitaries assembled in front of the Maxfield Engine Company Fire House Building.
A postcard depiction of the MCT Trolley in operation on Main Street, Boonton.
The original trolley route plan was through what is now the Tourne; in 1910 it was change to proceed farther south along Bloomfield Avenue- present day Route 46, before turning east along what was to become the Boulevard, before passing into Boonton.
Sources:
Morris County Traction Company
Larry Lowenthal & William T. Greenberg, Jr Marker: 2005.
Mountain Lakes 1911-2011
Patricia Herold
Mountain Lakes Centennial Committee: 2010
The Transportation History of Boonton, NJ
William J. McKelvey Garbely Publishing: 2018
