Fairfield Farms Dairy Cooling Station Detour

Industrial Revolution and Rural Electrification

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrialisation The first transformation to an industrial economy from an agricultural one, known as the Industrial Revolution,
   took place from the mid-18th to early 19th century in certain areas in Europe and North America;
   starting in Great Britain, followed by Belgium, Germany, and France.
   Later commentators have called this the first industrial revolution.[4] The "Second Industrial Revolution" labels the later changes that came about in the mid-19th century
   after the refinement of the steam engine, the invention of the internal combustion engine, the harnessing of electricity
   and the construction of canals, railways and electric-power lines. The invention of the assembly line gave this phase a boost.
   
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Utilities_Service
   In 1934, less than 11% of US farms had electricity.
   That same year, in France and Germany, nearly 90% of farms had electricity.
   Backed by the 1936 Rural Electrification Act the REA gave loans and other help to rural organizations
   setting up their own power systems and was one of the New Deal's most successful programs.
   By 1937, hundreds of new municipal power utilities were created nationwide.
   In 1939, 288,000 households had their electricity provided by rural electric cooperatives;
   most of these electric coops had applied for and received loans from REA.
   By 1942, nearly 50% of US farms had electricity, and by 1952 almost all US farms had electricity.
   In 1949, the REA became authorized to provide loans to rural telephone cooperatives.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hagerstown_and_Frederick_Railway Potomac Edison
   The Hagerstown & Frederick had always run what originally amounted to a side business,
   selling electricity to customers in the vicinity of its operations.
   As time went on, it became apparent to Emory Coblentz that the real business opportunity was in the electric utility business.
   In 1922 the entire system, including the Hagerstown & Frederick Railway, became the Potomac Public Service Company.
   The next year, the PPS absorbed the Cumberland utility known as the Potomac Edison Company
   (which included the Cumberland and Westernport Electric Railway), and applied its name to the entire operation.
   Potomac Edison thus covered a territory covering western and central Maryland, the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and a portion of Northern Virginia.
   Immediately thereafter, in another consolidation, Potomac Edison became a subsidiary of a holding company,
   the American Water Works & Electric Company, which operated a group of companies in Maryland and Pennsylvania under the West Penn Electric Company brand.
   The Potomac Edison name carried on until the 1990s when the Allegheny Power brand was applied.
   The Hagerstown-Williamsport line was closed in 1947, the last service in Washington County.
   Later that year, service was discontinued on the Middletown and Braddock Heights lines.
   Most freight on the Thurmont branch was gone, with only service to Fort Detrick a significant contributor.
   Many utilities, including Potomac Edison, were ordered by the Securities and Exchange Commission
   to leave non-utility-related businesses, such as transportation.
   With that incentive, the last H&F trolley ran on February 20, 1954.
   
4. http://www.prosperitymansionfarm.com/history.html
   1923, the citizens of the town and community, with the aid of the Fairfield Farms Dairy,
   built a three-phase electric power line from the crossroad near Keymar,
   a distance of about two miles at a cost of about $2,000.
5. Farming in Carroll County Google Book Result
   As a result of the county agent's cooperative extension work in agriculture in Carroll County,
   farm boys belonging to a 4-H Club received "Electrification Training" in 1950.
   In 1948, some 87 percent of farms in the Baltimore and Carroll County areas were electrified as compared to 68 percent nationally.