Neighboring Train Histories: Clinton & Warwick, OH
Ohio truly had an expansive rail network. In fact, at its peak in 1920; the system encompassed just over 9,000 miles of active passenger and freight rail lines. Even today, running mostly freight rail, the current system includes 5,330 miles of rail.
Located due southwest of Akron. Clinton and Warwick, OH are neighboring villages located just past the outlying suburbs of Akron. However, both villages were organized areas in their own right with dense downtowns of accommodations in housing and transport. Inns, corner stores, taverns, apartments, and public meeting spaces lined each respective Main Street.
Along with the ease of access to stores in their area, both Clinton and Warwick had excellent access to passenger rail routes. The Cleveland, Akron, and Columbus Railroad ran through both villages, with Warwick having connections on Baltimore & Ohio’s (later PRR) route. In 1898, you could take passenger routes from little Warwick northwest to Doylestown, south to Canal Fulton, and up north to Barberton with connection to Akron, Cleveland, Massillon, and Columbus.
Of course, freight still runs over these rails courtesy of the RJ Corman owned line. Freight rail is not passenger rail though. Freight rail does not help of the mobility of locals or travelers. Freight rail does not improve the connectivity of the people in a given place. This shows in the degradation of Clinton’s historic downtown and the lack of one in Warwick.
Still there’s little bits and pieces of what was (ie disconnected telegraph lines still standing) and I believe that’s why I’ve researched the history of locomotives in this area to the extent I have. Always interesting to see how a place has the changed, but seeing such a change as the one I have researched in Clinton brings up questions of how and why the change has taken place.
To me, Clinton and Warwick are a microcosm of the effects of sprawl and car dependency. A story that ultimately introduces itself in the histories of many US towns and cities. Ohio’s neglect in any state government sponsored passenger rail system exaggerates the effects of dying industry and declining economics. This only quickens the hollowing out of a given downtown. Consequently, places like Clinton and Warwick are the product.
A hollowed out shell of a town that you pass in your car (if you pass it at all). Just looking at the dense downtown buildings of Clinton’s Main Street or the leftover sidewalks that connect over to Warwick lets you know that there was soul here. It lets you know it is a Main Street.
