The First Commercially Successful Electric Streetcar

The First Commercially Successful Electric Streetcar. . , On Tuesday afternoon, November 30, 1886, a new technology had its beginning on Franklin Avenue, just a short distance off Lackawanna Avenue. The sidewalks were lined with on-lookers waiting to see if the start-up of the first electric streetcar would be a success or a failure., Sitting in the middle of the street was Scranton Suburban Railway streetcar No. 4. The car was filled with city dignitaries and persons from local newspapers. With Motorman John Williams at the controller and the Conductor John Cawley, the streetcar departed for the historic two and a half mile trip to the Green Ridge section of Scranton., Not only was this the first commercially successful electric streetcar operation in Scranton, it was the first in the United States. The success of the Scranton Suburban Railway earned Scranton the nickname, "The Electric City". The Green Ridge Streetcar Line, as it was later called, was in continuous operation for 68 years until it was converted to motor bus operation on Friday, December 18, 1954., The significance of that 1886 event again comes to this historic corner. The construction of the Scranton Enterprise Center now provides a start-up location for emerging technologies that will be the business engines of today and for the future., This historic marker provided by the Electric City Trolley Museum Association in cooperation with the City of Scranton Chamber of Commerce. , Dedicated November 30, 2011., [Map of] Scranton Suburban Railway Original Line , November 29 and 30, 1886