They were known as street railways, and the streetcars that followed those
rails were much like a train, except they were only one car long. For forty
years they created a steel network that extended well outside of our major
city limits. One could hop on a streetcar in Rock Island and quickly get to
Carbon Cliff, Milan, the Arsenal, or Davenport. Streetcars or trolleys
(modern gasoline-powered trolleys are more accurately called a trolley bus)
started out as horse drawn conveyances. Since each trolley was
self-powered, it may be difficult to understand why the rails were even
used. However since the early roads were not paved and the pneumatic tire
hadn't been invented, it's easy to see that a vehicle on steel rails would
offer a vastly smoother, more comfortable and hence more desirable ride than
an ordinary carriage.
The first Moline-Rock Island horse railway Center Station was located on
Moline Avenue - today's Fifth Avenue - at an address noted only as "east of
31st Street," and was termed an "architectural ornament" at its opening in
1868. It had a "nicely plastered office area" in addition to the less
finished stables. Trolleys were reported to seat 16 people - 14 if the
women were wearing hoop skirts - but a reporter once observed 51 people on a
car. Receipts for a single day were reported at $185 - a quite tidy sum for
the era. Later as Moline and Rock Island grew closer together and the
streets became more defined, the address of the station would be changed to
3448 5th Avenue.
Street railways were very popular, so popular that small companies developed
in each of our individual cities. People rode them to work and shop - much
easier than harnessing a horse at the beginning and end of the day - and
much faster than walking. But on holidays and weekends, the streetcars
weren't used much. How could the streetcar developers drum up business? By
providing a destination where everyone would want to go on days off. In
1882, Bailey Davenport started a trend by building a street railway all the
way out 11th Street to the new Watchtower recreation area. A few years
later, in 1892, an inn and amusement park at Watchtower provided more active
entertainment. Moline Central Railway developed Prospect Park as a
destination in the 1890s. Other railway destinations include Credit Island
and Campbell's Island. Some of our areas largest park areas are a result of
the desire to keep streetcars running - and hence profitable - during slack
times.
In 1889, Center Station was destroyed by fire. Fifteen vehicles and 42
horses were reported lost. Our postcard represents the building constructed
to replace Center Station. The front of this brick building was 2-stories
with the offices upstairs, while the rear portion was a single story with
earthen floors and a wood truss roof. A paint shop was at the east side of
the building. Farther east were separate buildings containing blacksmith,
woodworking, and repair shops. Although additions were later made to the
rear and the east, the front portion we see on the postcard remained
basically the same.
In the early 1890s, the various street railways were purchased by a single
company. During that decade, they were combined into a single entity known
as Tri-City Railway Company, which continued to own and improve its
recreational parks. Around 1899, the railway system was taken over by a
group of local businessmen that included S. S. Davis. Davis, who is
credited with bringing electricity to the area, was probably responsible for
electrifying the railway lines. Although the old stables were no longer
needed as a horse barn, they were used to store the streetcars, hence our
postcard's caption, "Tri City Railway Company Car Barn."
After 1908, offices of the Tri-City Railway moved downtown to the new Safety
Building but the car barns remained here on Fifth Avenue. Streetcars
continued to serve the region until 1936, when all the streetcar lines -
except for one across the Government Bridge - were converted to bus lines.
What caused the sudden elimination of streetcars? It has been claimed that
it was a devious scheme actively pursued by hidden subsidiaries of General
Motors. These subsidiaries would buy streetcar companies with the sole
purpose of closing them. It is said that GM wanted streetcars off the road
so people would buy their busses and cars. Others have claimed that
streetcar transit was simply obsolete - big busses with pneumatic tires
could go anywhere and not be tied to a steel rail. What's true? We don't
know - but we still think it would be great to hop a streetcar to Carbon
Cliff in downtown Rock Island!
The car barn building was used for bus storage for many years, then sat
vacant until it was demolished in the 1970s. While not especially
distinctive in its architecture, it represented an important era in local
and national history. Now only a postcard remains to remind us of the
heyday of public transportation.
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