NEWARK, Ohio — The first railroads came to Newark in the 1850s, and the city was an important transportation hub for a while, and the Baltimore & Ohio and the Pennsylvania railroads was the dominant players in town.
In January 1851, the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad began operating between Newark and Sandusky, Ohio.
The following year, in January 1852, the Central Ohio Railroad began operating between Newark and Zanesville, Ohio. By early the following year, its line between Newark and Columbus opened.
By April 1855, the Steubenville & Indiana Railroad completed a 116-mile-long line from Steubenville to Newark. The railroad, chartered on February 24, 1848, looked to build a line from Newark to Columbus via Granville. However, it reached an agreement to use the Central Ohio Railroad’s tracks from Newark to Columbus, Ohio.
The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, nicknamed the Pan Handle Route, later assumed the Steubenville & Indiana. The Pennsylvania Railroad later assumed control of the line.
In 1866, the Baltimore & Ohio took control of the Central Ohio, and in February 1869, the railroad took control of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad. The B&O built a depot in Newark in 1878; it was razed in 1989. In 1905, the railroad built a roundhouse on East Main Street.
By 1872, the Newark, Somerset & Straitsville Railroad, which had previously purchased the Scioto & Hocking Valley Railroad, completed a 44-mile-long line between Newark and Shawnee.
The Pennsylvania depot still stands in downtown Newark.
Newark was also an important destination for a Central Ohio interurban network.
By 1889 or 1890, an interurban line between Newark and Granville began operating. In about 1900, the Jewett Car Company, a manufacturer of elevated, interurban and subway cars relocated to Newark.