This image shows the Toledo and Monroe Railway powerhouse in Monroe — a sturdy brick building with arched windows, a tall smokestack, and an electric streetcar stopped out front. Library records identify it as the railway’s power plant at the intersection of Elm Avenue(s) and Monroe Street, photographed in 1901.
Powerhouses like this were the beating heart of early electric rail lines, generating the electricity that kept interurban and street railway cars moving between towns.
Do you know exactly where this stood in Monroe — or what later became of the building and the line?
#MonroeMichigan #MonroeCountyMI #MichiganHistory #Interurban #HistoricMichigan
