Charleston’s TrolleysCharleston’s Trolleys

Michael CarnellMichael Carnell

A Question From My Childhood

• Why did the power company run the buses?

• Answer: Because buses started off as trolleys, and trolleys ran on electricity!

• Originally lights and power weren’t such a big thing, but transportation was.

Pre-Electric Street Railways

October 15, 1866 horse street railways begin - many different vendors. Just before the

merger in 1897 CCRC operated 20 horse cars with 20 more in reserve, the Enterprise

company operated ten cars. Each of these could hold 20 to 25 passengers.

Historical Perspective•1901 President William McKinley shot at Pan American Expo, 9/6/1901 died 9/14

•1901-2 West Indian Expo and Ivory City

•1901 Start of shipyard

•1907 Union Station built at Columbus Street

•1910 shipyard opens

•1912 Titanic sinks

•1914 World War 1 starts, but US not in it yet

•1915 May 15 - Lusitania sunk off Ireland

•1916 July 15-17 closed due to hurricane

•1917 April 6, US declares war on Germany and enters WW1

•1917 Women’s suffrage reaching a high point and National Women’s Party formed

•1918 shipyard highpoint

•1918 First World War ends

•1920 Women’s voting rights passed in summer and women can vote in Nov elections

•1920 to 1933 - Prohibition in the US

•1927 new company and layoffs

•1928 Grace Memorial Bridge over the Cooper River starts construction

•1929 Cooper River bridge opens as toll bridge

•1929 October, stock market crash

•1934 Navy yard line replaced by buses

•1936 May, Gone with the Wind published

First Electric Trolley In Charleston - June 26, 1897

Trolley vs Streetcar vs Tram vs .....

Note: A cable car is not a trolley!

About 1902

At East Bay

Date Unknown, But Note The Wagons

A Short Video

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

1906 - Note The Poles

The 1920s

King Street 1910

And Night (Same Guys?)

About 1912

East Bay Street

Meeting at Market

Meeting S.O.B.

The Station At Columbus Street

Getting Around

Example Times

Mt Pleasant to Sullivan’s Island To Isle Of Palms

The Tourist Route

• Train into Charleston

• Ferry from Charleston wharf to Mt. Pleasant

• On to trolley at Pitt Street

• Across the inlet to Sullivan’s Island

• On to amusement park on Isle of Palms

A Day At The Beach

Murder She Wrote

• December 1936

• Cast:

• Motorman Grover P. McClure

• Corrie McClure - His Estranged Wife

• Her Dog

• Clarence Levy (age 81) -The Oldest Policeman in Charleston

Last Electric Trolley5pm February 10, 1938

The Metrics

A Fond FarewellPerhaps I’m just old fashionedbut my heart is sore within.I’m grieving for the streetcarsin spite of clamor and din.I’m thinking of that welcome soundwhen a restless night is o’er,the comfort of that early caras it passes by my door.I’m thinking of the men who drivetheir patience and their cheer.How they must have grown to love itand - I find I shed a tear.‘Tis hard to see the old things goto make a way for new.Tho buses may be very grandhere’s, old streetcars, to you. - News & Courier

History of MergersCharleston Gas Light Co. Charleston Electric Light Co.Charleston City Railway Co.

Enterprise Street Railway Co.

Charleston & Seashore Railway Co.

United States Illuminating Company

Charleston Light & Power Co.Charleston City Railway Co.

Charleston Consolidated Railway, Gas & Electric Company - 1899

South Carolina Power Company - 1926

South Carolina Electric & GasSCE&G - 1948

Tokens - Signs of Change

The Trolley Barn

665 Meeting Street

The Trolley barn Today

Current PLans??

What Has Happened?

Used as House in West Ashley Until 2008

Were Going To Be Restored

• Magnolia Development was going to restore them

• To be used in a development on the neck

• Then the markets crashed

• Post & Courier article on them in 2010 Link

• Unfortunately they now sit exposed to weather, vandalism and general decay

As They Are Today

Actually even worse now...

The Interior

For SCANA’s 150th

A Tale With A Twist

For Further Reference• CharlestonRail.org

• Palmetto Traction: Electric railways of South Carolina by Thomas T. Fetters, 1978

• SCANA's First 150 Years: Building on Success by SCANA Corporation, 1996

• South Carolina Electric & Gas Company: 1846 - 1964 by Nell C. Pogue, 1964

• Uptown/Downtown in Old Charleston: Sketches and Stories by Louis D. Rubin Jr, 2010

• The Golden Weather ("Fiction") by Louis D. Rubin Jr, 1995

• Southern States Trolleys in Color (Does not include Charleston!) by Edward A. Ridolph, 2004

Thank You!