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Pensacola streetcar system

1,125 bytes added, 02:51, 19 June 2008
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[[Image:PensacolaTrolley.jpg|thumb|A trolley travels south on [[Palafox Street]], circa 1920s]]
The '''Pensacola streetcar (trolley) system''' was a public transportation system that was operated by various entities between [[1884]] and [[1932]]. The streetcar system in Pensacola can be traced to [[Conrad Kupfrian]], a German immigrant who was reportedly inspired by the horsecars he saw in St. Louis on a business trip. He formed a partnership, the [[Pensacola Electric Streetcar Company]] , with [[John Pfeiffer]] and [[John Cosgrove]]. The men raised $50,000 in capital for the project and, on [[November 15]], [[1882]], convinced the [[Pensacola City Council]] to pass an ordinance allowing steel track to be placed in the roadways. The first streetcars, which went operational in [[downtown 1884]], ran from [[PensacolaBay]] north along [[Palafox Street]] to [[Wright Street]] between , then east to the years [[1906Union Depot]], then south along [[Alcaniz Street|Alcaniz]] to [[Gregory Street|Gregory]] and west to [[DeVilliers Street]]. A north-south link at DeVilliers went south to [[Government Street]] and east again to Palafox. A general fare cost five cents, and cars passed about every ten minutes during high-traffic periods. The company addressed the issue of low ridership after business hours by creating an amusement park destination, called [[Kupfrian's Park]], in the [[1932North Hill]]neighborhood.  At its peak, a total of 30 trolley cars carried four million passengers per year (1920).<ref>[http://www.dot.state.fl.us/publicinformationoffice/historicdotphotos/rail/pentrolley.htm MyFlorida.com]</ref> Routes included a line in [[Gadsden Street]] [crossing the old [[Bayou Texar]] Bridge to East Pensacola Heights] and a line to [[Kupfrian's Park]]. Also included was a loop encompassing Palafox Street, West Gadsden Street, North Spring Street, and West DeSoto Street back to Palafox, with a turnaround spur reaching on Gadsden past Spring to North [[Reus Street]]. Partially covered tracks and barely concealed right-of way are clearly visible on Gadsden [especially the turnaround track] and DeSoto Street. Another loop reached Old [[East Hill]] via [[Government Street]] to [[Alcaniz Street]] and back to Gadsden. The trolley was discontinued six years after Pensacola Electric Company's [[1932]] merger with [[Gulf Power]].
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