Editing Kitchener, Ontario (section)

====Arrival of the railways====

The extension of the [[Grand Trunk Railway]] from Sarnia to Toronto (and hence through Berlin) in July 1856 was a major boon to the community, helping to improve industrialization in the area.  Immigrants from Germany, mostly Lutheran and Catholic, dominated the city after 1850, and developed their own newer German celebrations and influences, such as the [[Turners|Turner societies]], gymnastics, and band music.<ref name="kitchener.ca">[http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/aboutkitchener.asp About Kitchener] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206203014/http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/AboutKitchener.asp |date=6 February 2017 }}</ref> In 1869, Berlin had a population of 3000.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/provinceontario00mcevgoog#page/n66/mode/2up |title=The Province of Ontario Gazetteer and Directory |first=Henry |last=McEvoy |date=1869 |publisher=Robertson and Cook |oclc=8348177 |isbn=9780665094125 |page=54}}</ref>

In the late 1880s, the idea of a [[street railway]] connection to Waterloo was promoted, resulting in the construction of the [[Berlin and Waterloo Street Railway]] in 1888.<ref name=elso-kwsr>{{cite web |url=http://www.trainweb.org/elso/kw_st_ry.htm |title=Kitchener & Waterloo Street Railway |website=Electric Lines in Southern Ontario |first=William E. |last=Miller |date=4 February 2007 |access-date=15 March 2021}}</ref> It was electrified in 1895, making it the first [[electric railway]] in Berlin, though not the first in the county, as the [[Galt and Preston Street Railway]] had opened with electric operation in 1894. This was followed by the construction of the [[Preston and Berlin Street Railway]] in 1904, which connected Berlin to [[Preston, Ontario|Preston]] (now a part of Cambridge) to the southeast.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.explorewaterlooregion.com/2017/01/railway-history/ |title=CAMBRIDGE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON WATERLOO REGION'S LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=19 January 2017 |website=Waterloo Region |access-date=10 March 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312053020/http://www.explorewaterlooregion.com/2017/01/railway-history/ |archive-date=12 March 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Mills |first=Rych |date=10 January 2017 |title=Flash From the Past: Preston Car and Coach goes up in smoke |url=http://www.therecord.com/living-story/7058983-flash-from-the-past-preston-car-and-coach-goes-up-in-smoke/ |work=Record |location=Kitchener |access-date=10 March 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>