Street car lines began operating in Chicago in 1859. The first street cars were horsecar lines with cars typically seating 20 passengers traveling about 3 mph. Though better than walking, horsecars were slow. The 6,600 horses in service left huge piles of manure and puddles of urine. Many horses were killed in the 1871 Chicago Fire, and many others died from a flu-like disease the following year.
The city briefly tried small steam locomotives in 1867 but they were noisy and polluting, throwing off sparks that made residents nervous because the great fire was still fresh in their minds.
In 1882, the Chicago City Railways implemented cable car technology modeled after similar cars in San Francisco. Cable cars travelled at 14 mph, much faster than the horsecars. The system eventually expanded to become one of the largest cable car networks in the world.
Electric-powered street cars began replacing cable cars in 1890 and the changeover was completed by 1906. The electric cars were less expensive to operate and carried more passengers.
In the first decades of the 20th century, Chicago was undergoing large population increases and trying to keep technology, sanitation and crime under control. It was a lot to manage and the street car system suffered. Increased traffic in the Loop mired street cars in traffic jams and left passengers hot and grumpy in overcrowded cars. Reports of muggings at the end of street car lines were cause for concern as well.
The city and state began taxing street rail line and regulated fares by capping them at 5 cents even though inflation was raging. Profits were taxes at 55 percent, making it difficult to expand operations.
By the 1920s, the popularity of the automobile was threatening the continued existence of street cars, although the system continued until 1958.
In 1945, new street cars called Green Hornets were purchased and placed in service. Painted bright green, these cars travelled faster than previous cars, but were still affected by traffic and their inability to detour to avoid construction and delays. The last streetcar, Green Hornet No. 7213, travelled its last route on June 22, 1958.
