Omaha Horse Railway Company
| Industry | Public transportation |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged |
| Successor | Omaha and Council Bluffs Railway and Bridge Company |
| Founded | 1867 |
| Defunct | 1889 |
| Headquarters | Omaha |
|
Key people
|
Ezra Millard, Andrew J. Hanscom, Augustus Kountze, William W. Marsh |
The Omaha Horse Railway was a private transportation company in early Omaha, Nebraska. The company was founded in 1867 by Omaha pioneers Ezra Millard, Andrew J. Hanscom and Augustus Kountze to provide horsecar service in the city. On February 19 of that year the Nebraska Territory Legislature awarded the company a 50-year franchise and exclusive rights to run tracks on Omaha's streets in its closing session. The company was noted for an 1888 United States District Court trial in which they sued another company for infringing on the exclusive rights to Omaha's streets granted to them by the Nebraska Territory Legislature.
The first formal meeting of the directors was held at the Omaha National Bank on May 1, 1867. In the years following the founding of the company through the mid-1870s a boon period presided in Omaha, bringing the foundation of several businesses important to the city's growth, including the Horse Railway. The city expanded from 12 square miles (31 km2) to 24 within 15 years, and the Horse Railway struggled to keep up with it. The company switched from horses to mules and painted their cars yellow in an attempt to strengthen their image. By the late 1870s the line had 18 miles (29 km) of track, 10 cars, 70 horses, 20 employees and 495,000 passengers annually. After the company hit hard times in the mid to late 1870s, William W. Marsh purchased a controlling interest in the company from A.J. Hanscom. His purchase was effective January 1, 1879.
In 1887 the Omaha Cable Tramway Company was founded, leaving the Horse Railway with a competitor. The companies merged in 1889. In 1888 the Horse Railway Company took the Cable Tramway Company and the City of Omaha to court on the grounds they violated the Horse Railway's exclusive 50-year franchise allotted to them by the Territorial Legislature. The City of Omaha held a public vote that gave the Cable Tramway the ability to compete, in violation of the Legislature's act. The courts found for the Cable Tramway Company, allowing them to share the streets; however, they did order the Cable Tramway Company repay the Horse Railway for losses due to intrusion upon that company's lines. The case was exceptional because the courts ruled that the exclusivity clause granted the rights to the company operating horse railways, not cable cars. This interpretation allowed for competition in a formerly monopolized market, and was credited with changing the economic landscape of American public transportation thereafter.
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Wikipedia