ELECTRIC STREETCARS REPLACED MULEY CARS IN 1905

Electric streetcars went into operation in Cape Girardeau in December 1905.

They replaced the muley cars, and followed the same route. The "Big Square," as it was called, followed Main street north to Broadway, west to Sprigg, south to Good Hope, east to Spanish, and down Independence to Main. Later, lines were extended to the Normal School (now Southeast Missouri State University) and west on Broadway to West End Boulevard.

The fare remained five-cents. Passengers were urged to ride the route twice on the same fare, if they had time, to give the impression the line was busy.

The line ran from about 5 a.m. to midnight.

L.S. Joseph promoted the Cape Girardeau Street Railway Co. with a capital stock of $5,500.

There were summer cars with woven straw seats that were reversible. Long, running boards extended down either side of the cars for easy mounting and dismounting, and a bell rope over the seats pulled by passengers told the motorman when to stop the car. He collected the fares unless it was a busy season, when a conductor was engaged to assist the motorman.

Enclosed cars were used in winter, and these were heated with a small stove near the motorman. Stoves burned coal or oil. Oil lamps lighted the cars, and later these were replaced with electric lights. The trolley rod that extended from the roof of the cars to an electric line in the air above the cars provided power to run the streetcars and to light the head light and ceiling lights inside.

A new fleet of electric street cars was purchased after 1920. They were more efficient with brakes that stopped the cars with a sudden jerk but held them from sliding.

Some of the men who were responsible for the maintenance of the trolley line were E.W. Grieb, G.W. Whittaker, Mr. Stroder, John Marvin McLain, William Borchelt, Mr. Daume, Mr. Spann, John Bull, Mr. Mullins, and L.B. Wilinson. There were probably others this writer does not know. Wilinson was in charge of repairs and car cleaning.

The line did a good business until 1934, when automobiles were being used by more residents and the trolley line began to suffer. The cars were sold in 1934 to a city in Mexico. Wilinson purchased one of the streetcars and put it in his backyard for a playhouse for his children.

After World War I, wooden blocks dipped in creosote were used to surface Broadway, Main and sections of Spanish. They expanded when wet with rain, snow or ice, and popped up and covered the car tracks. This caused the trolleys to jump the track. The blocks had to be removed.

One accident occurred near Engine House No. 1 on Independence, now the River Heritage Museum, when the horses were answering a fire call with the fire engine. Ice and snow caused the blocks to expand and cover the car rails. The horses slipped, causing the shaft on the engine to ram into the middle of one side of a trolley. The horses fell to the ground but fortunately were uninjured.

Automobile buses eventually replaced the electric trolleys throughout the city by April 1, 1941, after the Cape Transit Corporation was formed. The buses served five areas of the city, but the service lost money and stopped, and residents who lacked automobiles began to use taxicabs.

Today, besides taxicabs, the city of Cape Girardeau has a transportation program that enables senior citizens and handicapped individuals who are residents to move about the city when they purchase a coupon book. The coupons are reasonably priced and are good anywhere within the city limits. There is a time limit on each book. The transportation system includes a van with a lift for handicapped persons using a wheelchair. Coupon books are purchased at City Hall.

Automobiles are numerous with the city population of 34,438, as of the 1990 census. Since the city is expanding, there is a movement for a regular public transportation system. This issue is one that will be considered in the near future. It is one that prevails throughout the country as American cities keep extending their boundaries.