Horse-Drawn Streetcars

Horse-Drawn Streetcars. . At the urging of the Sioux Falls City Council, in March of 1887, Richard F. Pettigrew agreed to build and operate the city's first public transit system. After the city council granted him a franchise, Pettigrew, who was a public-spirited civic leader and a visionary entrepreneur, immediately set out to construct a horse-drawn streetcar line. He had committed to build at least one mile of line each year for three years. He formed a corporation called the Sioux Falls City Street Railway Company with a capital stock of $150,000. As company president, Pettigrew had complete control over the venture. He was enthusiastic because the line would bring prestige to the city and raise real estate values, including his property., The line started at the intersection of 6th Street and Phillips Avenue, running south on Phillips Avenue to 11th Street, then west to Summit Avenue. Pettigrew conceded that his line might not be profitable, but that he would build it for the city he loved and "for the fun of hearing the bell ring as the cars roll up Phillips Avenue." On November 3, 1887, the horse-drawn cars took the first passengers along Phillips Avenue, then just a dirt road. The cars, built in Waterloo, Iowa, carried up to 15 people. The fare was 5 cents. At first there were plenty of passengers because it was a new and novel experience. A stable was built on 11th Street and Main Avenue for the horses and streetcars., In 1888, the line was extended south on Summit Avenue toward the town of South Sioux Falls, Pettigrew's new industrial suburb. Four cars were in operation with two more scheduled to be added, along with a promise to install stoves for warmer winter rides. A year later, the line reached the area and terminated at the Buffalo House Hotel. The line also brought summer excursionists to "Pettigrew's Pasture" near the hotel. It was a 60-acre menagerie of plains animals that included buffalo, prairie dogs, and deer., Unfortunately, by 1889 the economic fortunes of Sioux Falls began to sag, and investors grew wary as the new decade began. By the fall of 1893 the entire nation was in the grip of a severe depression. By this time Pettigrew was a United States Senator with important connections. But Pettigrew's plans and projects, along with those of his fellow Sioux Falls boosters, were either slowed or stopped., The horse-drawn streetcar line became a victim of the hard times. It was operated haphazardly during the depression years, and, as it was not making a profit, Pettigrew and his partners refused to put money into improvements or extensions. Employees who continued to work on the line were allowed to keep whatever money they took in from passengers. Finally the line ceased operation altogether in mid 1896, and three years later the cars and barn were sold and the tracks were torn up.