I’ve been watching the progress of Deborah Mansfield and Marion Sansing painting a streetcar mural just down College Street from my house. It is a delightful addition to downtown and highlights a bit of Columbus history that occurred 118 years ago just one block north on Main Street. The mural is based on a photo postcard of the opening of the Columbus electric-powered street car line on May 22, 1906.

However, that day was not the beginning of public street transportation in Columbus. The origins of streetcars in Columbus go back to the 1850s and Col. William Cady’s omnibus. An omnibus, which was sometimes referred to as a horse bus, was a large horse drawn enclosed passenger vehicle.

Cady owned a livery stable at the northeast corner of College and Fifth streets, which was known as “Cady’s Horse Mansion.” E.R. Hopkins wrote that Cady’s omnibus was “drawn by two horses when meeting railroad trains in town and by four horses when the brass band or picnic parties went to the country. … Passengers entered by steps located in rear.”

As cities across America began instituting electric streetcar service, streetcars became associated with modern progressive communities. In smaller cities seeking industrial development, having electric streetcars was viewed as a sign they were a forward-thinking growing community. By 1900, Columbus was recruiting garment manufacturers, and it was believed having a streetcar line would be an asset for industrial recruitment.

In September 1902, The Commercial Dispatch reported, “During the early part of last spring the city council made a contract with the local electric light company for street lighting, which carried the construction of a street railway as a part of the agreement, but as no steps have yet been taken to commence work.” Then a Feb. 24, 1903, Dispatch article stated, “Columbus is soon to have free mail delivery, and it will then be the only city in the state possessing the convenience minus streetcars.”

On May 19, 1906, the Columbus Traction and Light Co., which had been working on building a Columbus streetcar line, was incorporated by G.T. Heard and Leopold Marx. On May 22, 1906, the first excursion by streetcar was made. People gathered along Main Street cheering as Mayor Gunter, the entire board of aldermen, members of the press, company officials and Taylor’s Concert band passed by riding on Columbus’ first street car. Then on May 26 a ceremony was held on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth streets to kick off public street car service in Columbus.

The streetcar line extended from downtown to the M&O Railroad Depot (just east of the old Marble Works on South Side), out Military Road to the Cedars (at Billups Drive) and to Lake Park (Propst Park).

There were two sets of cars, one set was open for summer and the other enclosed for winter. The Military line used only enclosed cars. The one-way distance for all three routes was a little more than four miles and the fare was five cents. The cars would travel at a speed set by city ordinance at no more than 12 mph to ensure public safety.

The Columbus Railway Light and Power Co., was incorporated on June 17, 1907, by Charles F. Sherrod, William Baldwin and Walter Weaver.

This company took over operation of the “Street Railroad” until service was curtailed around 1919 and was finally officially dissolved Dec. 10, 1928. The end of the line for the company appears to have been due to the increased ownership and popularity of automobiles.

Several stories and accounts discussing the Columbus streetcars are found in the book, “I Remember When” by Pauline Brandon. The book contains fascinating interviews and first-person accounts of old Columbus and may be purchased at the S.D. Lee Home. In the book are interviews with Jake Marx and Mary Ita Hardy recalling the old streetcars.

Jake Marx, the nephew of Leopold Marx, remembered, “The car line began at the M&O railway station and ran uptown, then divided into the Military Road line and the Lake Park line. At Lake Park (now Propst Park), the owners of the car lines had a dance pavilion built, with Mr. Arthur Stansel as constructor. The circular floor was 45-feet in diameter and around the floor were benches to accommodate on-lookers.

Outside, an open porch surrounded the pavilion. There was no admission charge to the pavilion; it was an investment in the street car business.”

Mary Ita Sherman Hardy recalled that the “streetcar served ‘The Cedars’ well at the time of my marriage. My father chartered the line for the evening, and my mother had white slip-covers made for the seats to protect the evening gowns of guests attending the reception.” Mary Ita and T. Bailey Hardy were married in 1914 at St Paul’s Episcopal Church downtown on College Street. The Cedars, the Sherman Home, was at the end of the streetcar line on Military Road.

I remember them talking and laughing about the wedding guest traveling from the church to the house on streetcars. In my grandmother’s (Mrs T.C. Billups) papers I found a printed “notice” from the wedding. My grandfather liked a good joke and this notice looked like his handiwork. Copies had apparently been given to the people in the wedding party who were riding on the streetcar. It stated, “Notice: This is ‘Chubby’ (Mary Ita’s nickname which I don’t think she cared for) and her darling ‘Hubby’ on their honey-moon. Stranger be kind, sit far behind and give them room to spoon.”

The grassy median down Main Street, from Sixth Street to the old C&G depot, is a remnant of the old streetcar track bed and recalls a day long ago when Columbus was served by electric street cars. That memory is now being preserved in a beautiful downtown mural on College Street.

Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].

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