Streetcars in Winston-Salem
Nothing on Ludlow's plat identifies Cascade Avenue as the choice street in the suburb; its lot sizes and layout are similar to those of other streets. The only difference is the checkered line labeled 'Winston-Salem Electric Railway.' The streetcar was essential to the development of the Washington Park neighborhood and others. It is no coincidence that the streetcar system was established only months before major development companies incorporated.
In mid-July of 1890 Winston-Salem's streetcar, said to be the second in the nation, began to run regularly. "Excursionists" from Raleigh and Greensboro were given free rides on July 15 and 16, and the Union Republican gave an optimistic report:
It is certainly a great step forward, an enterprise that involved a large outlay, which signifies the confidence foreign capitalists have in our present and future welfare, and we believe that the investment will never be a cause for regret. Onward is the watchword in the Twin Cities. . . To the citizens in town and in country we would say that the five handsome new streetcars and two flats which will soon be operated on schedule time, the lights, the building and machinery that operates the whole, is a sight worth witnessing. It will cost nothing to look at and but a nickel to ride.
In January 1891 the Electric Company and the Street Railway Company were consolidated under the name of Winston-Salem Railway and Electric Company, and on March 11, 1899, the Winston-Salem Street Railway Company was incorporated.
The streetcar system was purchased from Henry Fries in 1913 by Southern Public Utilities Company (SPU), which was later acquired by Duke Power Company. The SPU operated the system under a 100-year franchise agreement which Fries had worked out with the City of Winston.
The streetcars were painted yellow; there were summer and winter cars. The Summer cars were open on both sides with seats that spanned the cars. The winter cars had a different seating arrangement with closed sides and a central aisle. Long seats at each end housed an electric heater as well as a sand box with a mechanism to release sand on the icy tracks when needed. (Boys in the neighborhood would soap the tracks at the top of Main Street which caused the conductor to use a foot control to drop sand onto the tracks.)
Early cars were staffed by two persons, a conductor and a motorman. Cars were constructed symmetrically; they had no back nor front as they did not turn around at the end of the line. The motorman used a pole to transfer the wire, rope and pulley assembly to the opposite overhead wire to reverse direction. The conductor collected fares and punched passes and transfer tickets. He recorded this on a register in the front and balanced at the end of his shift. A conductor earned about $30.00 per week. In 1921 passenger fare was seven cents one way, or four rides for twenty-five cents. At that time R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was starting factory workers at twenty-five cents an hour.
The streetcar lines ran south on Main Street to Cascade, where a branch turned to the west on Cascade Avenue and traveled all the way to the park. (The line also continued on Main Street to Sprague Street and through the adjoining Sunnyside neighborhood to Nissen Park, since destroyed). As development continued past the end of a line, bus service was added to bring passengers to the streetcar lines for a transfer. The streetcar was the major means of transportation; hence property along or near the line was more expensive and fashionable. Although a few wealthy individuals had cars earlier, the automobile did not appear in any sizeable number until around 1915. There were street lights all along the streetcar lines; in the Washington Park neighborhood and other areas outside the city limits, the lights were turned off at night by the last car at about 10:30 p.m. and turned on again by the first car out about 5:30 a.m. This did not affect electricity serving houses. The streetcars stopped operating on December 29, 1936.
Information from the National Register of Historic Places:
Architects | Development Companies | Residents | History of Winston-Salem | Ludlow's Plan | The Park | Streetcars