Street Railway System Dates Back to 1884

Company’s Growth is Rapid; 44 miles of Track in Use.

 The street railway system in Little Rock, which now affords transportation over 44 miles of track to any part of the city, had its beginning back in 1884 when four far-sighted business men obtained a franchise to operate mule or horse-drawn street cars and constructed three and a half miles of track in the downtown district.

 The four men who organized the first company, the Little Rock Street Railway Company, were Thomas Darragh, Theo Hartman, George Reichardt, and Charles F. Penzel, who saw the line grow from a half mile of track in 1884 to four miles in 1890, when it was leased to the old Capital Street Railway Company, which existed for only a short time under that name.

 Records show that the first steam, or dummy, street car line was operated in Little Rock by the City Electric Railway Company.

 Two years before the Little Rock Street Railway Company property was leased to the Capital Street Railway Company, to be exact, on July 3, 1888, a trial run was made by a steam car which hauled a passenger car.  This was under the auspices of the City Electric Street Railway Company.

Two separate engines, each with a passenger car, were used to haul the mayor, aldermen, street railway officials, and others over the four miles of track, much to the delight of small boys, spectators and visitors to the city, and to the horror of horses which at that time were much in evidence in the business district.

 Howard Adams, President of the City Electric Street Railway Company, was at the throttle of No. 1, the leading steam car.

 Route of Short Line

The terminal of the line was located on the southwest corner of Second and Louisiana streets and the route was as follows:

 West from the terminal on Second street to Spring street, south on Spring street to Fourth street to Pulaski and south on Pulaski to Eighth street, west on Eighth street to Wolfe and south on Wolfe to Eleventh, west on Eleventh to Barton to Thirteenth and west on Thirteenth to the tracks of the Iron Mountain Railroad, where the old Highland Park was located.

Although the company used steam power for a few years, it was incorporated under the name of City Electric Street Railway Company.

 The road was electrified on December 23, 1891.

 The City Electric Street Railway Company several years later became the Little Rock Railway and Electric Company; the Railway and Electric Company developed into the Arkansas Central Power Company, and that organization became the Arkansas Power & Light Company.

 In 1935 the Capital City Transportation Company, a subsidiary of the Arkansas Power & Light Company took charge of the street railway system under direction of A.R. Koonce, superintendent of the system for the A.P.& L. 

 The contract under which the Capital City Transportation Company operates is exclusive on all streets occupied and extends to September 28, 1951.

 More than 70 street cars are operated by Greater Little Rock by the company.

 With its two early stages of transportation – horse-drawn and steam-powered cars – past history of the late eighties and early nineties, the electrified system is slowly passing out of the picture.

A bus is operated in the western section of Little Rock, and three new buses have been ordered to replace street cars on the West Fourth street or Pike avenue line in North Little Rock.

 Other buses complete service to outlying sections of North Little Rock. 

 Officials of the present transportation company predict that within 10 years all routes will be motorized by gradual addition of buses.

 Actual operation of a street car is cheaper than that of a bus, but upkeep of right-of-way, trolleys and other equipment peculiar to a street railway increases operating expense to where it would be more economical to operate buses.

 Officials agree that customers are in favor of busses because of less noise, easier riding comfort, and faster schedules.

 The story of the street railway system in Greater Little Rock would not be complete without mention of the part of C.J. Griffith former vice president of the Arkansas Power & Light Company, who for many years was in charge of the street railway department.

Mr. Griffith’s association with the system dates back to shortly after 1891 when as a master mechanic he worked with the new electrified system.  He became manager in 1906 and served in that capacity until his retirement December 31, 1935, and still serves the company in an advisory capacity.

Mr. Griffith was succeeded by R.E. Ritchie, former assistant to Harvey C. Couch, president of the Arkansas Power & Light Company.

 The picture is one of Little Rock’s first street cars.  The present street car system, with a six cent fare, is in the process of being changed once more.  Modern trolley busses no doubt will replace electric cars in a short time, marking another phase in modernization of city transportation.