All Aboard!

All Aboard!. Streetcars in Salem. , If you were standing here in the 1890s, you could hop on a streetcar and get off at the Capitol or continue to the train station on 12th Street, then considered the outskirts of town., The first trolleys in Salem were horse-drawn passenger cars that ran on fixed rails. This service started in 1889 and was operated by Salem Street Railway., Within a year, Capital City Railway Company introduced electric streetcars and soon had a route heading from downtown to the State Prison (about 2.5 miles east), and another line going south on Commercial Street to Rural Cemetery (now Pioneer Cemetery). These new lines helped connect growing residential areas with the downtown business district and State Capitol area., It was only a matter of time before all horse-drawn cars were converted to electric and the competing companies merged into one: Salem, Light, Power and Traction Company. After a series of ownership changes, line expansion and car improvements, Salem’s streetcars served most parts of the city by the 1910s (see map at right) with a system that was the most advanced in Oregon. The streetcar system was sold again in 1912 to Portland Pacific. PE&E operated the streetcars into the 1920s, when diesel buses started to replace trolley cars on certain lines. By 1927, the entire system switched over to buses, bringing Salem’s electric streetcars to a halt., Photo caption one , Salem’s first streetcars wait next to the Oregon and California Railroad (O&C) station on 12th Street, ready to transport arrivals downtown. This station replaced the original station built when rail service came to Salem in 1870. A third passenger station, built by Southern Pacific on the same site in 1918, still operates today as Salem’s train station and has been accurately renovated to preserve its Beaux-Arts style. The previous train station burned in 1885 and 1917, respectively. , Photo caption two , Looking west down State Street as three streetcars start their routes in 1909. The first car turns on Liberty Street, across the intersection from where you are standing right now. Cyclists, pedestrians, horse-drawn wagons and a few automobiles shared the road with the fleet of streetcars that served most parts of the city. The sign hanging over State Street advertises “Bligh Theater,” one of the many entertainment venues located downtown at the time., Photo caption three , Salem was a fast growing city in 1913. In addition to being the state capital, it had just become the state’s second largest city in population, overtaking Astoria for the honor. Not only did Salem have a streetcar system that was the envy of Oregon, Salem also had interurban rail service to Portland and Eugene several times a day. Run by Oregon Electric Railway, one of its cars can be seen above (at left) in front of its terminal building at State and High Streets. Above right, a streetcar glides up State Street heading towards the Capitol.