Tyler City: the Gateway to the West...
Tyler City was the metropolis envisioned by two industrious New Haven entrepreneurs, Samuel Halliwell and Philander Ferry, the former a tea merchant and the latter a bakery owner. They were both convinced that the railroad was going spawn commercial activity in New Haven and provide transportation for workers living in this new suburban city. They purchased the Lewis Bradley farm and adjacent parcels and had 2,000 building lots surveyed by the ubiquitous and multi-talented George Beckwith, who also published a popular almanac in New Haven.
Halliwell and Ferry also had this railroad station built in 1872 on New Haven Ave., the aptly named main street in the new 'city.' They presented it to the railroad on condition that trains always stop there, which some did all the way until 1925 when passenger service ended. Freight service from Derby Jct. lasted until 1941. At one time, you could catch a train right in Orange to either Pittsfield, MA and to New York or Boston via New Haven. See TylerCityStation website [click here] for more.
