100 years ago: Seattle buys private streetcar system, which was the beginning of the end

"In September 1884, Washington Territory's first streetcar line opened in Seattle. By the end of the year, the line had three miles of track and four streetcars which were operated by a total of 10 men and 20 horses. One branch ran out to Lake Union, and the other ran to Front Street (First Avenue) and on to Queen Anne Hill. The horses that pulled the cars were stabled at the corner of Second Avenue and Pike Street. This photo was taken on the September 1884 opening day of the Seattle Street Railway. Mayor John Leary and invited guests are seated in the horse-drawn streetcar at the intersection of Mill Street (Yesler Way) and Second Avenue. The tracks run through the dirt streets. Two Chinese pedestrians look on from the wooden sidewalk (right)." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Theodore E. Peiser photo, Seattle Historical Society Collection, image number shs898.Courtesy MOHAI

This archival photo shows a a Seattle Street Railway streecar barn at Second Avenue and Pike Street. Though the photo is dated 1880 in the archive, the city's first streetcar line -- drawn by horse -- did not begin service until Sept. 23, 1884. Streetcars converted to electric in 1889, so the photo would have been taken between those years. Photo courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.Seattle Municipal Archives

"Seattle's first electric streetcars began carrying passengers in 1889. By 1892, the city had 48 miles of electric streetcars and 22 miles of cable railway. In the mid-1890s, motormen were paid 22 cents an hour, but only while the cars were rolling. They weren't paid for the time it took to get the cars ready in the morning, keep them clean, or put them away at the end of the day. In this ca. 1890 photo, a group of Seattle Electric Railway and Power Company motormen pose in and near Streetcar #8. The photo was probably taken to commemorate the start of service from downtown to Lake Union." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Historical Society Collection, image number SHS7701.Courtesy MOHAI

"In 1896, the old Seattle and Rainier Beach trolley line was extended to Renton. At that time, the 12-mile route between Seattle and Renton was the longest electric railway line in the world. The line, known after 1903 as the Seattle, Renton and Southern Railway, provided passenger and freight service to the once-isolated settlements between the two cities." Pictured here is Seattle Renton & Southern streetcar #101, Seattle, ca. 1910. -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Lantern Slide Collection, image number 2002.3.1306.Courtesy MOHAI

"During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the United States Government started a number of programs to help the unemployed. The Civil Works Administration (CWA) provided money for short-term public works projects during the winter months of 1933-1934. Thanks to funding from the CWA, King County was able to hire tens of thousands of workers for local projects. In this photo, taken in Seattle during March 1934, relief workers repair streetcar tracks on Beacon Avenue, south of Stevens Street. The project was funded by the CWA, a federal agency." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Historical Society Collection, image number shs8525.Courtesy MOHAI

"After Seattle's streetcar lines were replaced by bus routes around 1940, workmen pulled up the old tracks that ran throughout the city. Miles of track had to be removed to make the streets safer for buses and automobiles. In 1941 the United States entered World War II, and much of this metal was recycled for the war effort. This May 1943 photo was taken on Third Avenue near the County-City Building in downtown Seattle. A worker breaks up the paving with a sledge hammer while a machine pulls the tracks out of the street." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, image number PI27194.Courtesy MOHAI

"The Seattle and Rainier Valley Railroad ran from downtown Seattle to Renton. For many years, this streetcar line was the main means of transportation between the city and the southern towns. In 1913, the rail line pleased baseball fans by offering special cars to Dugdale Field. This photo, taken in about 1917, shows a Seattle and Rainier Valley streetcar heading south. The sign on the front fender says 'Northwestern League baseball today. Take this car.' A newsboy stands near the car, hoping to sell papers." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, PEMCO Webster and Stevens Collection, image number 1983.10.10585.Courtesy MOHAI

"Seattle is unaccustomed to heavy snow. When over three feet of snow fell between January 31 and February 2, 1916, city workers and snowplows struggled to keep downtown intersections and streetcar tracks clear. According to the Seattle Times, passing automobiles pushed the snow and slush back onto the cleared spaces. The freezing mass turned into giant snowballs which caused 'the absolute ruination of tires and tempers.' This photo, taken during the 1916 blizzard, shows streetcars trying to make their way along Seattle's Second Avenue. Snow caps the streetlight bulbs, while pedestrians rush through the cold weather, leaving blurs on the photographic film." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, PEMCO Webster and Stevens Collection, image number 1983.10.8585.Courtesy MOHAI

"Seattle's streetcars were originally pulled along tracks by horses. The first electrically-powered streetcars and cablecars began service in 1889. Most of the early lines were independent and privately-owned. Later, most of the lines became part of the city's street railway system. This photo, taken in 1916 or 1917, shows streetcar #670 headed to Ballard Beach. Like today's electric city buses, the trolley was attached to the electric power lines with two booms. Unlike today's buses, it traveled on tracks." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Historical Society Collection, Woodrow photo, image number SHS12480.Courtesy MOHAI

"The No. 3 West Seattle inbound streetcar jumped the track on a dangerous curve at the foot of Avalon Way leading onto West Spokane Street. Two passengers were killed, three were critically injured and 20 more were hurt. The top-heavy trolley, loaded with laborers and high school students, fell into a concrete pillar at the brink of a 35-foot drop to a railroad switching yard below. The crash launched a critical investigation of municipal railway safety. This photo shows the streetcar lying on its side, propped up by timbers, under two overhead viaducts that lead to and from Admiral Way and Avalon Way, at 30th Avenue SW and West Spokane Street. At right foreground, between the curved tracks, is the undercarriage (trucks and wheels) that was wrenched from the body of the streetcar. The 27-year-old trolley crashed at 7:30 am Friday January 8, 1937." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, image number 1986.5.12163.2.Courtesy MOHAI

"Interurban trolley service between Seattle and Tacoma began in 1902. The high-speed Puget Sound Electric Railroad won passengers and freight away from the slower Puget Sound steamers. Regular trolley service on the line also speeded the development of the area between Seattle and Tacoma. Service ended in 1928, a victim of the more-popular automobile. This photo shows car 500 and two other Seattle-Tacoma interurban cars near Kent, Washington. Car 500 was built in 1902 and served on the Puget Sound Electric Railway until 1916." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Curtis Asahel photo, image number 2002.3.1435.Courtesy MOHAI

"In Seattle and other larger cities there were often several stations where different railroad lines stopped for passengers and freight. Several lines stopped at the Oregon-Washington Station. The building, now called Union Station, still stands at Fourth Avenue and Jackson Street. In this photo, a streetcar passes freight wagons and automobiles as it turns near the Oregon-Washington Station. At the right, a man stands looking down on the tracks below." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, PEMCO Webster and Stevens Collection, image number 1983.10.9451.Courtesy MOHAI

"Before about 1905, Pioneer Square was the heart of Seattle's central business district. Large brick buildings were built after the Great Fire of 1889, and the square was the start of many of the city's streetcar lines. This photo gives a particularly good overall view of Pioneer Square in about 1910. Streetcars move along the brick streets, and people wait for their rides under the glass-covered Pergola. By the time this photo was taken, the central business district had begun to move northward." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, PEMCO Webster and Stevens Collection, image number 1983.10.9094.Courtesy MOHAI

"Seattle's Yesler Street cable car line was the first in the Pacific Northwest and only the seventh in the world. It carried passengers and freight along the 2.25 mile track between the downtown area and Leschi Park in sixteen minutes. The Yesler Street line opened in September 1888 and ran until August 1940. By that time, there were over 100,000 automobiles in Seattle, and few people rode the cable cars. This August 1940 photo shows the Yesler Street cable car on the last day of its run. The large building in the background is the Frye Hotel. The Queen Anne and Phinney cable car lines closed soon afterwards. Electric and gasoline-powered buses that needed no tracks replaced Seattle's old streetcar and cable car lines." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Historical Society Collection, image number, shs8836.Courtesy MOHAI

"The Wallingford streetcar line connected downtown Seattle with the outlying areas of Wallingford and the University District. In May 1940, the streetcars stopped running and were replaced by buses. This September 1934 photo shows the Wallingford streetcar on Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle. Several people have just gotten off the streetcar and are walking towards the sidewalk." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, image number PI27147.Courtesy MOHAI

"On June 30, 1919, the Taylor Avenue streetcar's air brakes failed on Queen Anne Hill. The motorman tried using the hand brakes, but couldn't stop the car. It jumped its track at the Aloha Street curve, and shot across the street. It then crashed through a pile of heavy lumber and finally stopped in a bank of earth near a house. This 1919 photo shows the wrecked Taylor Street streetcar after its wild ride down Queen Anne Hill. Luckily, the car didn't turn over, and its riders had only minor injuries." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, PEMCO Webster and Stevens Collection, image number 1983.10.10890.2.Courtesy MOHAI

"By 1941, all of Seattle's streetcars had been replaced by buses. Later that year, with World War II raging in Europe, workers started pulling up the metal streetcar tracks to sell to industries for recycling into weapons and equipment. By the end of 1944, few if any of Seattle's old tracks remained. This August 1941 photo shows workmen pulling up streetcar tracks on 23rd Avenue, between Jefferson and Cherry Streets, in Seattle's Central District." -MOHAI. Photo courtesy MOHAI, Seattle Historical Society Collection, image number shs8668.Courtesy MOHAI

The new South Lake Union Streetcar could represent the future of public transportation in Seattle. It also represents the past. Long before automobiles clogged Seattle¹s streets and highways, people moved through the area in streetcars and interurbans. The extensive web of streetcar routes formed the city we live in today. Busy commercial streets in neighborhoods throughout the city developed along popular streetcar stops. Broad avenues and strange bends in the city's grid were originally made to accommodate streetcars traversing Seattle's busy streets and hilly terrain.

Frank Osgood founded Seattle Street Railway, Seattle's first public rail transit in 1884. Horse-drawn carriages on rails transported riders for 5 cents. This was the Washington territory's first streetcar system and an important resource in Seattle's rivalry with Tacoma to become the principal city in the Pacific Northwest. The system was a source of civic pride but also expensive to operate. Seattle's terrain was much more rugged then than it is today and teams of horses were needed to handle the steep hills. Hills were still dangerous to maneuver however, and derailments were a common occurrence. (Photo courtesy of MOHAI)

The first cable operation in Seattle carried passengers from Pioneer Square to Leschi Park, along Yesler Way and back on Jackson. The primary reasons for building the lines were real estate development and delivering recreation seekers to Lake Washington's western shore. Seattle's cable cars were patterned after San Francisco's to handle steep hills. Some lines converted to electric traction while others operated until 1940, lasting longer than any other city except San Francisco. (Graphic by David Badders / Seattle P-I)

Built to assist electric streetcars over steep hills once used by cable cars. The Queen Anne counterbalance was the longest lived, used uninterrupted from 1901 until August 1940. It ran along Queen Anne Ave. between Mercer Street and Galer Stret. Concrete-filled cars ran on tracks in tunnels running directly beneath the surface track. The concrete-filled cars weighed about the same as the streetcars and were attached to the streetcars by a cable and pulleys at the top of the hill. Before traversing the hill, streetcars would stop and a "hook up" man would connect the streetcar to a "shoe" permanently connected to the cable and protruding through the cabl slot. The concrete car helped cars move up the hill and prevented them from plummeting out of control going down. (P-I Photo)

The iron pergola at Yesler Way and First Avenue was once the terminus for cable lines running along James Street and Yesler Way and a block from the end of the Seattle-Tacoma Interurban line. The covered waiting area sits above what was known then as "the finest underground restroom in the United States." The "comfort station" was built in 1909 and featured marble stalls, brass fixtures, oak chairs, white-tiled walls and terrazzo floors. There were pay areas and free areas. Both the mens' and womens' entrances offered shoeshines, toilet supplies and cigars for the men. It was closed and sealed around 1943. (Source: 1909 Seattle Parks Commissioners' report Graphic by David Badders / Seattle P-I) — The iron pergola at Yesler Way and First Avenue was once the terminus for cable lines running along James Street and Yesler Way and a block from the end of the Seattle-Tacoma Interurban line. The covered waiting area sits above what was known then as "the finest underground restroom in the United States." The "comfort station" was built in 1909 and featured marble stalls, brass fixtures, oak chairs, white-tiled walls and terrazzo floors. There were pay areas and free areas. Both the mens' and womens' entrances offered shoeshines, toilet supplies and cigars for the men. It was closed and sealed around 1943. (Source: 1909 Seattle Parks Commissioners' report
Graphic by David Badders / Seattle P-I)

When the Seattle Electric Railway began service in 1889, many feared the electric current couldn't be contained to the line and runaway bolts of electricity would find the riders¹ pocket watches and electrocute them. The system proved to be safe and reliable. The days of the horse-drawn trolleys quickly came to an end. Electric traction became the standard for streetcars but some cable cars continued to run on steep hills. The electric trolley buses today follow many of the same routes of the streetcars. Birney Safety Car Charles Birney developed a smaller, lighter and less expensive streetcar later called the Birney Safety Car (pictured). Seattle was the first city to use these revolutionary cars. Their popularity grew and soon there were more than 6,000 in use in cities across the country. Compared with older, larger cars, they cut energy consumption in half and increased earnings 51.1percent. They held 29 passengers and were operated by a single man acting as both motorman and conductor. They ran more frequently, offering shorter waits prompting the slogan, "a car in sight at all times." Some drawbacks were a rougher ride and less inviting interiors. (Graphic by David Badders / Seattle P-I) — When the Seattle Electric Railway began service in 1889, many feared the electric current couldn't be contained to the line and runaway bolts of electricity would find the riders¹ pocket watches and electrocute them. The system proved to be safe and reliable. The days of the horse-drawn trolleys quickly came to an end. Electric traction became the standard for streetcars but some cable cars continued to run on steep hills. The electric trolley buses today follow many of the same routes of the streetcars.

**Birney Safety Car**

Charles Birney developed a smaller, lighter and less expensive streetcar later called the Birney Safety Car (pictured). Seattle was the first city to use these revolutionary cars. Their popularity grew and soon there were more than 6,000 in use in cities across the country.

Compared with older, larger cars, they cut energy consumption in half and increased earnings 51.1percent. They held 29 passengers and were operated by a single man acting as both motorman and conductor. They ran more frequently, offering shorter waits prompting the slogan, "a car in sight at all times." Some drawbacks were a rougher ride and less inviting interiors. (Graphic by David Badders / Seattle P-I)

The word "jitney" was slang for a nickel. Jitneys got their name from the slogan "take you anywhere and stop at any corner for a jitney." Jitney cars would offer rides supplementing and often rivaling streetcar routes. They were popular among streetcar passengers because they were faster, stopped less, and were more comfortable than streetcars for the same price. At one point Seattle had more than 500 jitneys carrying about 50,000 passenger per day. This took business away from the streetcar system and the city banned jitneys in 1921. This photo shows a line of jitneys waiting for riders along a streetcar route. (Photo courtesy of MOHAI)

Before there was light rail there were interurbans that ran from Everett to Seattle to Tacoma. Rural areas between the cities experienced little growth before the rails connected them to the commerce and culture of the big cities. Interurbans were a tremendous benefit to these areas, carrying freight as well as passengers. Farmers and merchants had an easier way to deliver and receive their goods. Home buyers had transportation to and from work. Interurbans were larger and more powerful versions of electric streetcars. They could reach speeds of 70 mph. Interiors were luxurious with leather seats, mahogany woodwork and brass fixtures. (Graphic by David Badders / Seattle P-I)

It was the beginning of the end for a once-thriving Seattle streetcar system.

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One hundred years ago, when the streetcars departed their barns and picked up their passengers, it was the first time they completely belonged to the City of Seattle.

Electric streetcars had been operating in Seattle for 30 years by that point (horse-drawn streetcars had also been used for about five years before that), and with great success. It was the first of its kind on the West Coast, and by 1896, the city was home to 48 miles of electric track and 22 miles of cable railway.

The first streetcar carried passengers down Second Avenue from Yesler Way to Pike Street. Passengers could hop on for 5 cents, and 4,000 rode it on its opening day. The system eventually expanded to ferry passengers all over the city, from Pioneer Square to Leschi Park, and with more stops in areas like Ballard, Wallingford and the University District.

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From 1890 to 1900, Seattle's population nearly doubled from 42,837 to 80,671, then nearly tripled by 1910 to a population of 237,194. In the latter half of the decade, World War I brought new workers to the area, and the streetcar was the main way they got to the shipyards and airplane factories. Still, the fare stayed at just a nickel, as mandated by an agreement with the city.

The streetcar system became strained, overcrowded and underfunded. The system was losing money. Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power, which operated most of the streetcars at the time and was owned by the national utility Stone & Webster, wanted to raise their fares, but city officials were afraid of public backlash if they allowed the hike. Riders were already frustrated by what they saw as a private monopoly in the city.

So when the opportunity to buy the streetcar system came knocking at the City of Seattle, officials jumped at the chance, perhaps a bit too eagerly.

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The privately owned system was sold to the city for $15 million, a purchase approved by voters on Dec. 31, 1918 and happily accepted by Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power. Later investigations would reveal the system was actually worth only about $5.5 million.

On April 1, 1919, streetcars took to ... well, the streets ... completely under the ownership of the City of Seattle for the first time.

The city took on debt to make the initial purchase, and it was never truly able to recover. By 1936, the system brought in about $11,000 per day, but had an operating deficit of $4 million and had paid down less than half of the original purchase price of the streetcar system. At one point, employees were paid with change directly from the fare box.

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Meanwhile, automobiles and buses were growing in popularity. This, along with the financial burden of the system, caused it to dwindle until April 13, 1941, when the last of the original Seattle streetcars finished its final run.

But it was not the end of the Seattle streetcar. Decades later, the waterfront trolley opened in 1982 and operated for over 20 years. Today, the South Lake Union and First Hill street cars ferry passengers from Lake Union to downtown and from Capitol Hill to Pioneer Square, respectively.

Unless otherwise noted, historical information for this story was gathered from HistoryLink.org essays and SeattlePI archives.

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Producer Natalie Guevara can be contacted at natalie.guevara@seattlepi.com. Follow her on Twitter. Find more from Natalie on her author page.