Thank you for confirming the identity of the railroad. You mention that the Whittlesey Hall building now has a Chinese restaurant. Would this be the "Peking House" on Whittlesey Avenue? Along with railroads I am attempting to locate Twain's venues. On 6/23/21 4:10 PM, Philip Bauer wrote: > Scott and others: > Mark Twain spoke in Norwalk OH (near where I now live) on Jan. 21, > 1869 on his American Vandal speaking tour. The previous night (20th) > ) he had lectured in Toledo and the next night (22nd), he returned to > his Cleveland base for another engagement. > At the time, the existing railroad that would have connected the three > cities was the Cleveland & Toledo Railroad. It also had a locomotive > facility in Norwalk which became the town's largest employer. > > The brick building where Twain spoke still stands as a two-story > building with a Chinese restaurant on the lower level. The third > floor was a large community room where Twain spoke and it was removed > some time later after wind damage. > > Twain, of course, was not widely known at the time so he warranted > only a squib in the weekly Norwalk Reflector five days later: > > "Whittlesey Hall was crowded to its sitting capacity on Thursday > evening, on the occasion of the lecture by "Mark Twain." His > discourse was a fine one of its kind. ---- Its humorous points > convulsing the audience with frequent laughter --- while its > occasional burst of eloquence showed the author to be a prolific > writer and one thoroughly conversant with the subject which he > treated. On the whole, Mr. Twain's lecture was a decided success." > > Nowalk's local historian has told me that during the day before the > lecture, Twain had visited the home of a prominent local banker but > found no one home so he left his calling card on the porch. > Another interesting coincidence is that Henry Wheeler Shaw (later > known as Josh Billings) lived with an uncle in Norwalk for a time when > he was about 20 years old. > > Philip Bauer, Sandusky OH > > > > On 6/11/2021 2:18 PM, Scott Holmes wrote: >> For those interested in such things, I have been trying to map >> Twain's travels associated with his 1868-69 American Vandals Tour. >> The University of Nebraska has a collection of kmz files for >> railroads up to 1870 and it is these that I have most relied on. >> Many segments don't have names and many are approximations of routes. >> It's not possible to accurately compare these with the USGS maps of >> the regions as the government maps are more recent and railroad >> companies have been unstable in regards to ownership and locations. >> Many of these reported railroads do not seem to be known to Google. >> >> I have often seen remarks on Mark Twain becoming >> fatigued/disenchanted with touring. Examining these maps may provide >> some indication just why this happened. He covered a lot of miles. >> I have divided the tour up into 6 arbitrary sections for my Twain's >> Geography site, mainly to lessen confusion with the maps. >> >> http://twainsgeography.com/content/american-vandal-abroad-1868-69