The Boston and Maine Railroad Through Exeter: Mainline Transportation

Opening up new markets in the 1800s meant that farmers, manufacturers, and other commercial businesses could expect to sell beyond the distance that a farmer’s team could travel in a day. Mail, newspapers, and express packages of all kinds (and B&M Baked Beans from Portland) could be delivered daily and far faster than by carriage – and Sears, Roebuck took notice. Passengers could travel far further, measured in hundred-mile increments. Railroads created a revolution in what was possible. Expansion of railroad travel throughout New England brought rapid expansion for every on-line town, including Exeter – and the Boston & Maine grew rapidly with new routes and by acquisitions of other lines and even an airline, to cover much of Northern New England from the Hoosac Tunnel to Portland, Maine. This presentation by Dave Saums will capsulize the B&M’s history through the latest changes that are underway currently with new owner CSX Transportation.

If you cannot attend in person, the program may be viewed through Zoom and Channel 6. For more information or to pre-register, visit our website (link in Tickets area).

This program is free and open to the public; however, donations are always greatly appreciated.

You may also like the following events from Exeter Historical Society:

• Next Tuesday, 2nd September, 07:00 pm, The Art of the Scandal: Thefts, Vandals and Forgeries in Exeter
• This October, 7th October, 07:00 pm, Reviving Exeter’s Black Revolutionary War Veterans and their Families in Exeter
• This October, 27th October, 06:00 pm, Spooky History Trivia 2025 in Exeter