Traveler's Guide

GRHC - January 2nd, 2013

The weekly Grand Rapids Saturday Evening Post, in addition to local happenings, provided schedules of the several railroads that serviced the city in its "Traveler's Guide" column.

Transcript

The Grand Rapids Saturday Evening Post, a weekly founded in 1873 by D.N. Foster, reported on local happenings. As one of its services, the paper published the schedules of the city’s several railroads in its “Traveler’s Guide,” column.

In an 1875 issue schedules of the following railroad lines were listed. The schedule of the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore line, with a depot on Almy St., added the somewhat confusing statement, “Night express leaves daily. All other passenger trains leave and arrive daily, Sundays excepted.”

The Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad also used the Almy St. depot. Their timetable stated, “These trains run by Columbus time, which is 10 minutes faster than Grand Rapids time.”

The timetable of Michigan Central (depot on Prairie St.—now Ionia) warned, “Trains run by Detroit time, which is 10 minutes faster than Grand Rapids time.”

The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern line, Kalamazoo Division, ran only two trains a day. Travelers were reminded, “Trains run by Cleveland time, which is 15 minutes faster than Grand Rapids time.”

The Detroit & Milwaukee and the Grand Rapids, Newaygo & Lake Shore lines, whose depot was on the West side between Bridge and Pearl, published their timetables without time adjustment annotations. 

The Saturday Evening Post changed ownership many times over its thirteen-year existence. It even served as a Prohibition publication in its final years, before becoming an item of local newspaper history in 1886.