 |
| Click on the image to go to a PDF |
|
| The whole premise of the litigation in the Rowley vs Mass Electric case surrounded the idea of who really owned the corridor.
The argument was; if the land was taken by the RR using their version of eminent domain called a "location taking" then it should revert to the successors of the railroad when it was abandoned.
In the area behind Fairfield Avenue, that section was acquired by the RR in 1866 using that "location taking" instrument and thus that court case was based using that location taking as a base line.
Interestingly, there was a second transaction a couple of years later in 1871. A transaction where the land owner sold the land to the railroad forever.
Amazingly, this little tidbit was never brought forward in the litigation. If it did, then the case would have easily been dismissed. Click on the image to the left and check it out yourself.
|
|