In 1888 an experimental electric streetcar line was built in
Columbus, Ohio. It ran on Chittenden Avenue from High Street to the
State Fairgrounds, a distance of about half a mile. From that shaky
start it only took until 1892 to completely replace the horsecars. The
advantages in speed, cleanliness, increased capacity and economy caused
officials to put those horses to pasture as fast as they could. For the next
54 years Columbus would rely on the electric streetcar for basic transportation
around the city and to promote city growth.
The name for the
streetcar company changed over the years. At the time of the
conversion to electric there were two companies, the The Columbus
Consolidated Street Railway Company which was the dominant company and the
Glenwood & Green Lawn Railroad Company which ran the West Broad
Street and Green Lawn cemetery lines. As soon as the G&GLR Co.
electrified it was taken over by the CCSR Co.
In 1892 the
CCSR Co. was reorganized as the Columbus Street Railway Company.
In 1893, in another move the streetcar and electric light business was
brought together and called the Columbus Railway & Light Company.
In 1904 the company became the Columbus Railway, Power & Light
Company. In 1937 the company became know as the Columbus
and Southern Ohio Electric Company.
IN 1933 a
modernization program was started that introduced trolley coach and motor
bus service. This transition away from streetcars was completed in
September, 1948. This fifteen year modernization program is described in
1948 End of The Streetcar Era.
The
Streetcars section of columbusrailroads.com is a work in progress.
Additional material will be added as time permits.
