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Streetcars initially appeared in Charlotte in January 1887,
when a horse-drawn, later mule-drawn, system commenced operations.
It was the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company, locally
known as the Four C's, which truly revolutionized the transportation
system of Charlotte, however. In February 1891, the Four C's
signed a $40,000 contract with the Edison Electric Company to
construct an electric streetcar or trolley system. Work began
in March and terminated on May 18, 1891, when the first trolley
departed from Independence Square, the intersection of Trade and
Tryon Streets in the heart of Charlotte. The system initially
consisted of two lines, one from the Richmond and Danville Railroad
Depot on W. Trade St. to McDowell St. on the eastern edge of the
city and another from the Carolina Central Railroad Depot on N.
Tryon St. to Latta Park in Dilworth, the streetcar suburb that
the Four C's opened on May 20, 1891. Lines were later extended
to neighborhoods throughout Charlotte, like Myers Park, Piedmont
Park, Biddleville, North Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Wilmore.
You will be riding in Streetcar No. 85. It was built in the Dilworth Trolley Barn at Bland St. and South Blvd. in 1927 and continued in service until March, 1938. It was the last streetcar to operate on the streets of Charlotte and was the centerpiece at a "Goodbye To Trolleys" Ceremony at the Square that same month. Many of Charlotte's streetcars were sold for scrap or turned into hot dog stands or lake houses. Some were sold to Bogota, Colombia. There are two Charlotte streetcars in Lincolnton, where they have been turned into an office building. No. 85 was hauled to Douglas Airport and served as the office of the Air National Guard. It then went to Caldwell Station near Cornelius and became a convenience store in the 1940's.
We first learned about Streetcar 85 in 1986. It was being used as a house in Huntersville and was about to be scraped. The Historic Landmarks Commission raised over $200,000 to restore No. 85. It was transported to the Atherton Mill Complex in October 1993, and began running along the Norfolk Southern Railroad line to uptown Charlotte in August 1996. Hopefully, a bridge will be built over Stonewall Street, so that the streetcar line can extend through the Convention Center and run through Second Ward and First Ward to the Seaboard Station on North Tryon St. Enjoy the ride, and tell your neighbors and friends to come ride part of Charlotte's history. The little red streetcar in the carbarn was built shortly before World War I and shipped to Greece, where it operated for over 50 years.
Related Sites
Charlotte Trolly's Website
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