Still Around after 188 Years (Sort of)

The picture on the front of this post card shows what Greylock Station

looked like prior to March 1, 1907. Greylock Station is located in North Adams, MA (almost as far north and west in Massachusetts as one can go) which is less than an hour east of Albany, New York. At the time of this picture the station was on the Boston & Maine Railroad line. The Boston & Maine (B&MRR) came into existence on March 15, 1833 when the Andover and Wilmington Railroad received a charter to build a railroad joining the two cities to each other. On June 27, 1835, the Boston and Maine Railroad of New Hampshire was chartered. The B&MRR no longer operates as the namesake railroad. At the time, it was the largest of New England's railroads and for over 180 years has served the territory well. During the company's height it maintained more than 2,000 miles with 25,000 employees. Its by-line was “Route of the Minute Man”. This was a reflection of the civilians who were at the ready to defeat the British in the Revolutionary War. It covered the state of Massachusetts north and west from its home base of Boston. Today's B&MRR is much different than the one of last century. What is left of its historic network is operated by Pan Am Railways, previously known as Guilford Rail System. That would make the railroad over 188 years old.

I can only assume that the post card was printed and published by the Railroad itself. Their logo appears at the bottom right-hand corner of the front of the card. This is the back of the card and it tells me that it was printed before March 1, 1907. Up until this date only the address could be written on the back of the post card. You can see that reminder in the bottom left-hand side of the card. So this post card is over 114 years old! And it is in excellent shape.