Worcester to Holyoke - Labor Day, September 2, 1889

The Boston & Albany Railroad offered the citizens of Worcester a trip to Holyoke on Labor Day in 1889. The round trip fare of $1.00 had to be worth it, for travelers could enjoy nearly 12 hours in the Paper City touring downtown or spending the day at Mountain Park and the Summit House.The 63 mile trip took around two hours and ten minutes to complete. Talk about "high speed" rail service!!! (Seminole Bailey Archive)

The Holyoke Envelope Co.

The Holyoke Envelope Co. was organized in 1880 by George N. Tyner and  James T. Abbe. The company started business in the Holyoke Water Power's Cabot Street building of that year with 25 employees manufacturing 200,000 envelopes daily. 

The company grew steadily, but at the beginning of 1888, a fire  at the Cabot Street facility wiped the business out.  Tyner and Abbe then purchased land in the south end of the city and built a new factory on Main Street.  The new plant employed over two hundred people and produced an amazing 3,400,000 per day.

The company was later sold to the United States Envelope Company which operated the Holyoke plant for many years.

An 1889 photo of the Holyoke Envelope Company's. new plant which was located at the south end of Main Street (Seminole Bailey Archive)