Views On and About Mt. Tom and of Mt. Tom Railroad, Holyoke, Mass.

N.p.: N.p., 1900. First edition (this can be determined by the pagination and by the fact that the old Summit House is pictured). Oblong octavo. [40] pp. All but 8 pp. are full page photographic illustrations of Mt. Tom environs and it's famed funicular railroad. Publisher's string-tied buff wrappers with raised gilt lettering and company device. Some minor aging but very good.Later editions list the publishers as the Holyoke Street Railway Company. "As a Holyoke businessman dissatisfied with the pace of the street railway's line expansion, Loomis decided to take matters into his own hands, purchasing the four-year old company outright in 1888. Electrification of the lines came in 1891 and, despite a faltering economy, the Holyoke Street Railway grew apace under his ambitious stewardship.In 1895, Loomis's railway began shuttling weekend passengers in search of respite and recreation to a 365-acre parcel on Holyoke's Mt. Tom that he had purchased and begun to groom some years before. Opened in 1894 and named Mountain Park, the new connection to the Holyoke Street Railway resulted in a steady increase of visitors and profits.In 1897, with a state charter to build a pleasure resort in hand, Loomis strove to make his vision blossom, adding a restaurant (with open-air dining), a dance hall, and a 2,500-seat theater named The Casino. A unique switchback railway (a new type of roller coaster, the first of which had been built just 13 years before at Coney Island, NY) beckoned the daring soul, with a merry-go-round and water ride providing additional, less-challenging, amusement". In the same year he built the Summit House on the top. "Key to the success and popularity of the Mt. Tom Summit House as a satellite of Mountain Park, despite its location atop the highest peak of the Mt Tom Range, was the construction of the Mt. Tom Railroad in 1897. An offshoot of the Holyoke Street Railway Company, the two lines' convenient connection at Mt. Tom's lower station made the steep, uphill climb a painless, even pleasurable, experience for patrons. President William McKinley and First Lady Ida were very important passengers on the Mt. Tom Railroad on an outing to the Mt. Tom Summit House in 1899. The original Mt. Tom Summit house, built in 1897, was destroyed by fire on October 8, 1900. The Holyoke Street Railway Company wasted no time rebuilding, employing laborers over the winter to work post haste to replace the profitable asset with an even bigger and better version. On May 15, 1901, the new Mt. Tom Summit House (above), complete with golden dome, 300-person capacity hall, and 3,920 square-foot, glass-enclosed upper observation deck, opened for business... In 1938, the last summit house and the Mt. Tom Railroad were dismantled and sold for scrap." (Exploring Western Massachusetts)