Another view of the scene of Theodore Roosevelt’s carriage accident, looking south on South Street in Pittsfield on September 3, 1902. Image courtesy of the Harvard Library, Theodore Roosevelt Collection.
The scene in 2023:
As explained in more detail in the previous post, this spot on South Street in Pittsfield was the site of a collision between an electric trolley and a horse-drawn carriage that was carrying President Theodore Roosevelt. It occurred during a two-week long campaign trip through New England, when the president was stumping for Republican candidates in the upcoming midterm congressional elections.
At the time of the accident, both the trolley and the president’s carriage were traveling southbound on South Street, in the direction of the Pittsfield Country Club. To the north of this spot, near the culvert over the Wampenum Brook, South Street was relatively wide in 1902, and it had a trolley line that ran down the center of the roadway, as shown in the foreground of the top photo. However, just a little farther in the distance, the roadway narrows on the right side, and as a result the trolley tracks shift from the center to the right side of the road, as seen in the distance. This required southbound vehicles to cross the tracks around this spot, in order to continue southward.
That was exactly what Roosevelt’s carriage driver, David J. Pratt, was attempting to do here on the morning of September 2, 1902. However, an electric trolley was also approaching the spot at the same time, and struck the left front wheel of the carriage, along with one of the horses. The impact threw Pratt and Roosevelt’s Secret Service bodyguard, William Craig, from the carriage. Craig was killed instantly, and Pratt was seriously injured. The other occupants, who included Roosevelt, Massachusetts Governor Winthrop Murray Crane, and Roosevelt’s aide George Cortelyou, were able to walk away from the accident, although Roosevelt sustained a cut on his lower lip, bruising and swelling on his face, a black eye, and a bruised left shin.
The top photo shows the scene shortly after the accident, facing south on South Street in the direction of travel. The narrowing of the road is visible here, with the trolley tracks starting in the lower left corner in the center of the road, before shifting over to the right side in the distance. The bottom photo shows the same scene in 2023, although it looks very different now that South Street is a busy paved road. It is part of U.S. Route 20 now, and it is much wider, with two travel lanes and a center turn lane. As a result, the only obvious feature that still exists from the top photo is the hill itself, which rises up to where the Pittsfield Country Club is still located.