Charleston Tramway, West Virginia

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The city of Charleston in Kanawha County ( US state West Virginia ) had a streetcar operation from 1888 to 1939 . The network consisted of city lines in Charleston and overland lines via North Charleston to Dunbar , via South Charleston to St. Albans and via Marmet to Cabin Creek Junction.

history

Charleston Street Railway

In 1888, the Charleston Street Railway Co. opened the first horse-drawn tram , which ran as a ring line around the city center, along Kanawha Street (now Kanawha Boulevard), Brooks Street, Dryden Street (now Smith Street) and Capitol Street. A second line opened shortly thereafter from Capitol Street via Virginia Street, Central Avenue and 4th Avenue to Patrick Street in West Charleston. It was eventually extended from Capitol Street to the east through Washington Street to the then city limits on Bradford Street. With that, the horse-drawn railway network was complete.

Charleston Traction Company

In 1898 W. Hazard purchased the car and she founded in Charleston Traction Co. at. In the following years the new owner electrified the routes.

Kanawha Valley Traction Company

Already in 1902 the owner changed again and the company was now called Kanawha Valley Traction Co. In 1903, the railway company took the rails out of Kanawha Street and instead led the ring line through Quarrier Street. Tracks were also laid through Virginia Street between Capitol Street and Brooks Street. Eastward, the railway was extended through both Virginia Street and Washington Street through a newly settled residential area to Duffy Street (now part of the Capitol complex) and through it, creating a new ring line. A link through Ruffner Avenue between Washington and Virginia Street was also opened at this time. In addition, a stretch was built from Drydon Street over the Elk River, through Bigley Avenue, Charleston Street (now Washington Street) and Tennessee Avenue to Virginia Street. The new rail depot was built on the corner of Virginia Street and Tennessee Avenue.

In 1907, Edgewood Park was built on a hill in the north of the city, a local recreation center with a zoo and amusement facilities operated by the tram company. A new tram line from Charleston Street / Tennessee Avenue connected this park to the city via Charleston Street and Edgewood Drive. When the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad , whose railway line ran south of the Kanawha River , was planning a connecting track to the north of the river, the Kanawha and Michigan Railway , the Kanawha Bridge and Terminal Co. was founded together with the tram company in the same year . A single-track railway bridge was built over the river, but the track should also be used by the trams. The steel river bridge was connected at both ends by ramps in the form of elongated wooden yoke bridges , at the end of which the tram line branches off the railway track. A new link to the north end of the bridge was built from Central Avenue through Russell Street and Seventh Street. The new line to South Charleston opened in 1908.

Within the city there were now three ring lines that were only used in the specified direction:

  • Inner Ring: Capitol Street - Quarrier Street - Brooks Street - Smith Street - Capitol Street
  • Middle Ring: Capitol Street - Virginia Street - Ruffner Avenue - Washington Street - Capitol Street
  • Outer Ring: Capitol Street - Washington Street - Duffy Avenue - Virginia Street - Capitol Street

In addition, trains ran from Capitol Street via Virginia Street and Tennessee Avenue to Edgewood Park, via Drydon Street, Tennessee Avenue and Central Avenue to West Charleston (Patrick Street) and via Virginia Street and the Kanawha Bridge to South Charleston.

Charleston Interurban Railroad

In 1910 the Charleston Interurban Railroad Co. was founded with the aim of building overland routes. She leased the Kanawha Valley Traction Company and now ran the tram company. The first to extend in 1912 was the route to South Charleston via Spring Hill and Jefferson along MacCorkle Avenue to St. Albans. Also in 1912, Luna Park in West Charleston went into operation as another amusement park, to which a branch line was built from Central Avenue through Park Avenue to Grant Street.

The company then built another stretch from Summers Street, where the terminus was just before Virginia Street, through State Street (now Lee Street), Truslow Street (now overbuilt), Lovell Street (now Washington Street), Charleston Street , Pennsylvania Avenue, Roane Street, Charleston Street (now Washington Street), Stockton Street and 7th Avenue through North Charleston to Dunbar.

In 1915, the Kanawha City Bridge went into operation as the second river bridge with a tram track. The route in east Washington Street was extended from the previous terminus on Duffy Avenue through Washington Street and over the bridge that was in the north extension of 34th Street to Kanawha City. There the route led through Central Avenue (now MacCorkle Avenue) and further along its extension through Marmet, Chesapeake and Chelyan to Cabin Creek Junction. It was completed in sections by 1916.

In the 1920s, the line through Pennsylvania Avenue and Roane Street was shut down and the trains to Dunbar now ran directly through Charleston Street on the track on which previously only the line to Cato Park (formerly Edgewood Park) ran. The central departure point for all lines was then on Virginia Avenue, corner of Alderson Street (today Laidley Street). Today, all Charleston city bus routes still depart from Laidley Street.

First bus service

The Midland Trail Transit Co. , which was partially owned by the Charleston Interurban Railroad, began bus service in Charleston in 1925. The first line went to Hillsdale, from Virginia Street through Summers Street, State, Truslow, Lovell, Charleston Street, Bigley Avenue, Cora Street, Crescent Road, Westmoreland Drive, O'Dell Avenue, Garland Avenue and back over that Bigley Avenue to Charleston. In the same year the second line was opened from Capitol Street via Lee Street, Broad Street, Smith Street, Morris Street, Piedmont Road to Wertz Avenue, and a third line from Capitol Street via the South Side Bridge to South Hills. The latter line ran in South Hills over Bridge Avenue (now Bridge Road), Myrtle Avenue, Oakmont Road, Walnut Road, Bridge Avenue, Oakwood Drive (now Oakwood Road), South Avenue (now MacCorkle Avenue) and Ferry Street.

When the State Capitol was moved east from Capitol Street to Washington Street in 1932, the bus company ran its line to Piedmont Road on the way back to Charleston through Wertz Avenue, Washington Street, California Avenue, McClung Street, Jackson Street, Ruffner Avenue, Lewis Street, Morris Street and Capitol Street to connect the two government complexes.

Charleston Transit Company

The Charleston Interurban Railroad went bankrupt in 1933 and was reorganized as the Charleston Transit Co. in 1935 . She also took over the bus operation. The company now endeavored to get rid of the unprofitable rail traffic and closed all routes on June 29, 1939. Buses took over the transport tasks and in the same year intercity bus routes to Montgomery, St. Albans and Nitro went into operation, in the following years the entire county was developed with bus routes. In 1971 the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority (KRT) took over the operation, which still operates numerous bus routes in Kanawha County.

Today only the Kanawha Bridge remains of the former tram operation, but it has also been closed for rail traffic, as well as the building of the former depot, which is now used by an industrial company. The buses were parked here until May 1950, when the new bus depot, which is still in use today, was opened on 4th Avenue / Stockton Street.

literature

  • Stan Cohen: Kanawha County Images. A Bicentennial History 1788–1988. Charleston WV: Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., 1987. (especially pages 180ff.)
  • George W. Hilton and John F. Due: The Electric Interurban Railways in America. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 1960. page 305.