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When commissioners of the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad Company met inside the Helme Tavern on Wyoming Avenue in Kingston on May 22, 1852, to discuss the first railroad line into the Wyoming Valley, Alfred H. Coon was just 22 years old.
				An opportunity existed for the young Coon who founded the Coon Construction Co. at his family&rsquo;s Market Street farm in 1854, helping to build the railway from Scranton to Kingston, and then from Kingston to Bloomsburg.
				As Wilkes-Barre was the hub of rail activity in the latter half of the 1800s to the mid-1900s, the first train that rolled into the valley occurred in Kingston.
				Coon&rsquo;s interest in transportation continued to grow as he was one of the first to own a steamboat on the Susquehanna River that transported passengers, supplies and coal from Nanticoke to Wilkes-Barre. As steamboats faded to other transportation means, Coon co-owned and expanded the Wilkes-Barre & Kingston Street Railroad Co.
				&ldquo;Mr. Coon was the original builder and owner of the Wilkes-Barre & Kingston street railway; also of the first steamboat line between Wilkes-Barre and Nanticoke, and the first water works in Kingston and the builder of the Dallas and Kingston turnpike,&rdquo; read Coon&rsquo;s obituary published in the Wilkes-Barre Record on Feb. 1, 1913.
				Coon was born May 29, 1829, in Carbondale, which was in Luzerne County before the formation of Lackawanna County.
				&ldquo;He received what was in those days considered to be a fair education in the common schools. His early experience at contracting and construction work was received when he was closely associated with Jay Gould with whom he was interested in various deals around Gouldsboro, and also in Lackawanna and Wyoming Valleys,&rdquo; the obituary says.
				When enough money was raised to extend the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroad into Kingston, Coon got to work.
				&ldquo;The D.L.& W. branch on the West Side was the first railroad that entered this valley. After the completion of that piece of work, he continued as a general contractor and his work is only a part of the many big enterprises with which he was directly connected in the early period of the growth of Wyoming Valley,&rdquo; according to Coon&rsquo;s obituary.
				The first passenger train into Kingston occurred on June 24, 1856.
				&ldquo;The Lackawanna and Bloomsburg Railroad was opened from Scranton to Kingston on Tuesday last. The cars made three trips during the day, and each time were well filled with passengers. There was a pride which thrilled in every bosom as the trail moved majestically down our rich and beautiful valley,&rdquo; reported the Pittston Gazette on June 27, 1856.
				A passenger station was located near Coon&rsquo;s family home at Market Street and Schuyler Avenue in Kingston.
				About 10 years after the railroad was finished, Coon, and his brothers Charles S. and Jacob D. Coon gained controlling interest in the Wilkes-Barre & Kingston Street Car Co. in 1866, extending rail lines across the wood covered Market Street bridge, crossing the Kingston flats to the Lackawanna & Bloomsburg depot.
				The Coons ran the first horse street car from Kingston over the Market Street Bridge on June 25, 1866.
				Prior to the building of the levees to control the river, the Kingston flats often flooded disrupting street car service.
				&ldquo;The Wilkes-Barre & Kingston street cars were unable to run on Friday evening, Christmas day and Monday on account of water flooding the track between this city and Kingston. The ice passed out of the river Monday night, causing the river to fall 11 feet,&rdquo; the Luzerne Union newspaper reported Jan. 5, 1876.
				Coon died inside his Market Street home on Jan. 31, 1923. His death certificate lists the cause of death as pneumonia.
				&ldquo;He was 83 years of age and was one of the most widely known contractors of this area,&rdquo; the Evening News reported about Coon&rsquo;s death, published Feb. 1, 1913.

Look Back: Alfred H. Coon built the first railroad in valley, expanded street car service in the mid-1860s