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The Last Interurbans

In the early 20th century, electric streetcar technology was applied to intercity transportation, and many electric interurban railways were built in the United States. In cities and towns, they usually ran on the tracks of local streetcar lines. Between towns, they used their own rights of way, sometimes running alongside the primitive roads of that era, sometimes running cross-country. Interurban cars were usually intermediate in size between city streetcars and railroad coaches. Many lines carried express and carload freight, as well as passengers. They were especially common in the Midwest, stretching from Ohio westward to Wisconsin and Iowa. At one time it was possible to ride from upstate New York (somewhere east of Rochester) to Wisconsin, using a series of connecting interurban lines.

Beginning in the 1920s, the interurbans began to disappear, as automobiles became more common and roads were improved. The Great Depression hastened this process. By 1940, most of them were gone. World War II kept the survivors alive artifically for a bit longer, but in the 1950s and 1960s the downward trend continued. Almost all the remaining interurbans died, except two that still operate passenger service and one that still operates freight service.

Following is a list of interurbans that continued passenger service into the 1950s, plus two that still operates electric freight service, although they gave up passenger service much earlier.

Note: This list may be incomplete; I appreciate additions and corrections!

This page was last updated on 14 July 2007.

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This page is © 2007 by Jon Bell (jbell at presby.edu), who is solely responsible for its content.