Michael Bergman 160 pages hardcover
Seattle's first street
railway opened in 1884, with two horses per streetcar. By 1899 ten
companies operated trolleys and cable in the city--and hillside
properties became prized building lots. A decade later, all but one were
run by Seattle Electric Company, and their 103 million passenger
ridership was equivalent to every Seattleite boarding a streetcar 435
times a year. Seattle voters approved municipal ownership in 1918, and
the mayor issued bonds to fund the $15 million purchase. Bus routes and
several line extensions followed, but the debt load and the Great
Depression forced the system into disrepair, and the Seattle Municipal
Railway converted to trolley and motor buses. Author Michael Bergman
worked as a transit planner for Sound Transit and King County Metro
Transit for more than 35 years. Through narrative, maps, and previously
unpublished photographs, he delivers a detailed jaunt through Seattle's
fascinating streetcar era.
