Streetcars in St. Louis

Streetcars in St. Louis, Missouri operated as part of the transportation network of St. Louis from the middle of the 19th century through the early 1960s. During the first forty years of the streetcar in the city, a variety of private companies operated several dozen lines; from the start of the 20th century, most of these companies consolidated into the St. Louis Public Service Company, which served both the city of St. Louis and neighboring St. Louis County, Missouri. Other private companies, such as those serving the Metro East region or St. Charles, Missouri, continued separate operations. Starting in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s, St. Louis Public Service ended all streetcar service, while other regional operators also ended their services.

By the 1830s, the city of St. Louis had grown in size beyond the ability of many of its residents to walk conveniently throughout the town. In 1838, brief mention is made in historical records of a private horse drawn cab service in the city, followed in 1843 by the beginning of an omnibus service by entrepreneur Erastus Wells in partnership with an investor named Calvin Case. During the late 1840s, other horse-drawn omnibus service companies began operation, but by the end of 1850, most of these companies had consolidated with the Case and Wells lines to form Case and Company, which operated 90 carriages and several lines in the city. In 1855, principal investor Case was killed in the Gasconade Bridge train disaster, and the company was divided among its other investors. The resulting horse-drawn tram lines became the blueprint for street railway service in the late 1850s.

In December 1855, a group of investors formed the Laclede Railway Company for the purpose of building a street railway, modeled on services then provided in eastern cities such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston. However, the Laclede line was never built. In spite of the early failure, by 1859, seven other lines were proposed; however, only four were completed before the outbreak of the American Civil War. The first of these lines began operation on July 4, 1859, running east to west on Olive Street from 4th to 10th streets. However, early operations were marred by difficulty in securing quality rails, and construction problems caused derailments of the cars. All of the prewar railways used horse power to pull their cars, that is they were Horsecars.

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