The Lexington Railway Co. is a monument to that courage and tenacity, to that capacity and brain, which shape the destinies of communities.
-Lexington Herald, Oct. 25, 1903
With gas prices soaring, alternatives to driving one's car look pretty appealing. Bus ridership is up all over the country and carpools have become more common over the past year. In a small city like Lexington, conversations have not yet turned to exploring the possibility of a light rail system, as they have in Louisville. Many simply believe that the city is too small, suburban areas too dispersed, and the cost would never be repaid through ridership.
These same people have no idea that a much smaller version of Lexington did indeed have an electric rail system throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. This system was well patronized, and only became obsolete with the coming of the affordable automobile, good roads, and inexpensive gasoline.
A Mule Drawn System
There arrived in the city Wednesday a gentleman who was the first person to introduce metropolitan airs in Lexington by building a street railway and operating street cars. Since that time the city has gradually adopted the conveniences which are enjoyed by every large city in the country.
-Lexington Leader, Jan. 2, 1891
Early Lexington was primarily a walking city, unless one was wealthy enough to own a horse and carriage. The city was laid out so that services were concentrated in the center city and housing was within walking distance to work, entertainment, and government/business offices. The wealthy built their houses in the urban core, closest to amenities, while the less well-to-do formed a ring around the pedestrian city. Like most cities throughout the country, Lexington used an omnibus system in the middle 1800s. Omnibuses were somewhat akin to stagecoaches, in that they were drawn by horses or mules along a specified route in the urban area. They did not run on tracks, therefore, they are not considered a street railway.
As early as 1871, city leaders discussed the possibility for a street railway. Throughout the 1870s, newspapers document attempts to organize and operate such an endeavor. Clearly, there was interest in forming a system, as the Lexington Press reported that all of the stock had been subscribed by 1872 and construction was set to begin. It was not until 1882 though, that a full-blown mule-drawn street railway gained momentum.
In January 1882, a bill was introduced into the Kentucky Legislature to incorporate the Lexington Street Railway, and in March, a street railway ordinance was passed by the city council. By May, work had finally begun on the system that had been in discussion stages for at least 10 years. This work was undertaken with some local capital, but investors from Arkansas, like John Cross of Hot Springs described in the quote above, were crucial to forming the system. According to newspaper accounts, the mule car system cost less than $40,000, and Cross and other outside investors put up most of the initial capital outlay.
Nationally, horse- or mule-drawn streetcar systems made their debut around the 1850s. By 1860, horsecar systems operated in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, Montreal, and Boston. Probably due to the impact of the Civil War and reconstruction in Lexington, there was not capital or ability to introduce such a system earlier than the 1870s and '80s.
The streetcar system that was introduced in the 1880s was later described as rather crude. An October 1903 Lexington Herald article characterized it as such, "The cars if exhibited on the street would have the appearance of toys, and the mules which drew them were scarcely larger than Shetland poniesÖThe road appeared to have been built for the purpose of quick sale and not for permanent operation by the constructors."
Crude or not, this system in its maturity covered nine miles in the burgeoning city. Important lines included service to the Lexington Cemetery, Woodland Park, North Broadway to Sixth Street, South Broadway to the fair grounds (present day Red Mile Race Track), and South Limestone to the gates of the Agricultural and Mechanical College (University of Kentucky) near Colfax Street. The main stable for the mules and cars was on Vine Street, though there were apparently stables at Race and Fourth as well.
In every way, the new system was called a success. New suburban areas were developed and served by the streetcar lines, such as the Woodland Park area and residential districts out North Broadway. Annually, the Lexington City Railway Company reported an impressive dividend and ridership was growing accordingly. On August 31, 1887, the Lexington Transcript reported that over 6,000 passengers rode the Lexington mule-car system the previous day.
The system itself consisted of pony mules and small cars that ran upon a very light rail. The ride could be had for five cents a person with a brass slug or 10 cents if you purchased on the car itself. A good description of the workings of the mule car system was included in a Lexington Herald article in 1903. "Teams of pony mules purchased in the West at about $30 each drew the cars, the driver occupying a stool on the front platform. He was also the conductor in that he saw to it that every passenger dropped his fare in the queer-looking little glass box attached to the end walls of the car. He carried the 'change' done up in little envelopes with the amount printed thereon, for the accommodation of passengers. The cars cost $500 when newÖThe harness worn by the little mules was peculiar, consisting only of collar, harness, and traces made of rope. When the terminus of a line was reached, the driver would descend, unpin the iron double-tree, carry it behind his team to the other end of the car, rehitch and when he had waited the time required by the schedule, proceed back to the court house. At 9 or 10 o' clock at night, he would drive his car down to the barns on Vine Street, where vehicle and team were stabled. To enable the mules to eat, relief teams were employed. Stops for passengers were made wherever they desired to get on or off regardless of crossings."
This system was in place until 1890, when the electric streetcar was introduced in Lexington. The old system was simply not quick enough, and in some cases, was hampered by steep topography. The South Broadway hill was a formidable foe for the little mules and occasionally all the men on the car would have to get out and walk up the hill. Elsewhere, the electric system had been getting rave reviews, and Lexingtonians were excited about the progress that would come with this improved system.
The Lines Go Electric and So Does Lexington
"The trial trip on the electric railway yesterday afternoon was in every sense a success. At 4 o'clock officials of the road, newspaper men and other guests boarded car No. 8, and in less than a minute the Electric Belt Line was in operation."
-Lexington Leader, July 29, 1890
The genesis of the electric system is a somewhat confusing story, tied up with the development of a belt line railroad to connect the Kentucky Union Railroad from the east side of town to the Cincinnati Southern and the Louisville Southern Railroads on the west. Due to legal technicalities and land speculation, the Kentucky Union Railroad was stalled until its clever attorney figured out that a charter, which had been approved in 1886 for a Lexington city railway, would allow his clients the ability to construct the connector. Kentucky Union investors purchased stock of this company in 1888-89. Thus, the company known as the Passenger and Belt Railway Company was formed. The belt railroad was completed in 1889. At the same time, investors purchased by stealth the old mule drawn system's lines and stock and began plans for the new electric system.
The first electric streetcar system was developed in Richmond, Va., in 1887. The electric system was lauded for its speed and ease of transport. Riders could cover as much ground by streetcar in 10 minutes as could reasonably be walked in 30 minutes. "By 1902, 22,000 miles of streetcar tracks served American cities; from 1890 to 1907, this distance increased from 5,783 to 34,404 miles." (Ames, Historic Residential Suburbs, online at: www.cr.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/suburbs/suburbs-start.htm.)
In addition to serving a public need for good transport, streetcar systems were developed to open up land for new suburban development. In fact, suburban developers and streetcar companies oftentimes collaborated to bring the lines through developable areas, and in some cases, developers served as primary investors in streetcar companies. A typical investment for streetcar companies was also amusement parks, which were developed at the end of important lines. These parks were an added source of revenue for the companies and served the dual purpose of passing through areas that were being developed for housing, thus showing riders the ease of moving to the new suburbs.
Lexington's electric system was initiated in 1890 with the inaugural run in July of that year from the car barns on Loudon Avenue to the Phoenix Hotel. The system was made possible by an electric power station, at Loudon Avenue, which served to propel the cars along the tracks and light the homes of middle-class Lexingtonians. A by-product of this process, steam, was used in the adjacent Hercules Ice Company, to provide city residents with a steady, year-round supply of ice. All three companies were held by the Passenger and Belt Railway Company.
Lexington's first electric streetcars were purchased from the Pullman Company and were painted yellow with two motors located under the car. The cars were heated in inclement weather. The top of the car held a trailer which connected to the overhead trolley wire that provided necessary power to move forward. These cars were housed at the Loudon Avenue car barns, near North Limestone, and were said to be able to travel in town up to 30 or 40 miles an hour, though they typically moved much slower. A heated central waiting station was constructed in 1892 on Main Street near the courthouse for passengers' convenience. Fare on Lexington's streetcar stayed pretty steady at five cents until 1917, when the cost was increased to six cents for adults and three cents for children. Despite two more increases in 1920 and 1927, the fare returned to five cents in 1934.
The growth of lines along this new system was exponential. At the height of the streetcar system, all the major lines that were traveled in the old system were in place, with the addition of tracks up West Main to Jefferson to Fourth Street ending at the Eastern State Hospital; Main Street to Deweese Street, east on Third north on Chestnut, east on Breckenridge to the Kentucky Association Race Track, and then west on Shelby to Loudon Avenue; East Main to Woodland, east on High Street, north on South Hanover, and back to Main Street. Several of these lines were double-tracked due to a large number of riders. In August 1898, the Lexington Herald reported that the streetcar company had increased its earnings by $10,000 over its 1897 numbers.
Interurban lines were inaugurated in 1902 by two different companies which were both bought up by the Passenger and Belt Railway Company and renamed Kentucky Traction and Terminal Company in 1911. The first interurban streetcar ran to Georgetown in May 1902. Other lines were established thereafter to Paris, Versailles, Frankfort, and Nicholasville. These cars were described by J. Winston Coleman in The Squire's Sketches of Lexington as, "50 feet long, ran on 640 volts d.c., with four-wheel trucks running under the body, front, and rear." Like many streetcar companies, the Central Kentucky Traction Company developed a park six miles out Versailles Pike in 1909. Originally called Belt Line Park, Blue Grass Park featured dancing, swimming, roller-coaster rides, and boating. The park closed in 1925, after the development of Joyland Park out North Broadway. The interurban lines were discontinued in 1934.
With the development of the streetcar system came the growth of the city's suburban areas. There really could not have been much suburban growth without a reliable mass transit system. Lexington's neighborhoods appeared densely clustered along streetcar lines, such as Elsmere Park, Kenwick, Hollywood, Highlawn, Rosemont Garden, and Bell Court, to name a few. These neighborhoods generally had small lots so residents could walk to the trolley lines in 10 minutes or less. Many times, neighborhood commercial centers developed around a streetcar stop, such as the small business district at Woodland Triangle or the commercial cluster on Nicholasville Road at Arcadia Park. These neighborhood business centers were not meant to substitute for the downtown area, but rather to provide local services such as groceries or hardware. Streetcar lines were really responsible for a burgeoning downtown area, in that they closely tied the outlying areas to services that could only be found at the center of town. All streetcar lines focused on the downtown core.
By the mid-1920s, Lexingtonians had begun their love affair with the car. Car ownership increased dramatically and less and less people rode the electric streetcars. An August 1919 Lexington Herald article documented the first public complaint about the 29-year-old system. The Rotary Club urged the city to require removal of streetcar tracks on Main from Limestone to Broadway, due to traffic concerns.
In the midst of the Great Depression, the city's public transit system underwent a huge change. Motor buses were substituted for streetcars throughout the city, and by April 1938, the last electric trolley rode down Loudon Avenue to Chestnut Street and back. The reasons for its demise was probably multifaceted, however, an increase in automobile traffic and the desire to be able to drive a car quickly through town appears to be the central motivating factor. Put simply, car drivers were annoyed with having to navigate over tracks and around slow moving streetcars. Thus, 56 years of streetcar service to the citizens of Lexington ended on April 21, 1938. The tracks were removed and there are very few noticeable remnants of this system.
After years of near-sole dependence on automobiles, Lexington has again begun a conversation that includes mass transit. Due to demands from the general public and a voter-approved property tax increase, Lextran recently announced a cadre of new services which includes two neighborhood circulators, a late night and early morning bus, an express route to Blue Grass Airport, and a special bus service for seniors. This new focus on public transportation could mean that the average Lexingtonian is ready to discuss accommodating multiple modes of transit, which should include bicycle paths, pedestrian-friendly environments, extended bus service, and a potential light rail system. If Lexington could maintain a light rail from 1882 to 1938, surely we could do it in the new millennium.