Historic Hallowell

On November 10, 1937, a train hopped the tracks, slammed in to the Hubbard Free Library and caused a lot of damage to the library. The accident did not injure anyone. There were kids working on it because there were no laws against letting the kids help with the accident.

The library received heavy damage to the rear wall. The total numbers of cars that went off the rails were three.

One rolled in to Mr. Frank Moore’s home next to the library and caused very little damage. Another one of the freight cars catapulted through the large window at the west end of the granite building.

They restored the library up so it looks like it does today. The good thing is that no one was injured. The Hubbard Free Library was repaired about two months after the incident. Now the library is fine and still being used today.

Once the train crash was discovered, people started to yell to get others attention and took pictures of it. The cost of damage to the library was a very large amount.

Contributors to this exhibit are Joe Rushlau, Liz Lone, and Alex Dumas