The Transfer Corner

The Transfer Corner. . The intersection of Main and Calhoun streets was the busiest corner in Fort Wayne between the 1890s and the 1960s, for it was here, at the "Transfer Corner,” that all the trolleys (and later buses) converged from their various routes. , Originally, the intersection was called the "Turntable Corner” because a rotating track had been installed in the street to direct each departing trolley onto its assigned outbound trip. This was removed in 1888 and was replaced by a network of stationary tracks that allowed the cars to move easily from one line to the next. , The public transportation system of Fort Wayne began with private horse drawn "omnibuses” operating from downtown to outlying places. In 1872, the first street railway, or trolley line, was opened with horse-drawn cars carrying as many as twelve people at a time. Private lines, such as the Centlivre Line, competed with the main public service lines to bring customers to their businesses. In 1891, the trolleys were powered by electricity for the first time. One popular transit line carried passengers to Robinson Park, an amusement park located six miles north of the city on the St. Joseph River. , By the 1940s, electrically powered "trolley buses began to replace the trolley cars, the last one of which ran on January 27, 1947. In 1960, the trolley buses were replaced by diesel-powered buses. , For more information, contact: Arch An Origination For Historic Preservation , Presented by the Journal-Gazette Foundation , The Transfer Corner looking southeast in about 1910. (Allen County - Fort Wayne Historical Society).