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Home My WebLink About1902-09-25 - Interurban Rail Transit in King County and the Puget SoundInterurban Rai[ Transit inKing County and the Puget Sound Region By Walt Crowley Poeted8/18/2UUU HietoryLink.orgEssay 2SS7 North,Coast1j"oa.(nmw/Gmvhovnd)Jo"nina[?Soattle? An]mombonzmroeor.Weattako.andStewartjo. dmwntown.Soattka?7070 Coun*sy.PauiDorpat Ric hord.Boyo,A.popubo,.scuipm,uPevpLe)Naki"g.fo,. t^o]"te,u,bo"in.F,omvnt Electric interurban railways played umajor part indefining early twentieth century transportation routes and growth patterns inKing County. Early roads were primitive and before the development ofthe first inter -city rail service in18SS.most shippers and commuters on Puget Sound relied onwater transport and "Mosquito Fiomt"steamers for mobility. By1S12.private interurban Lines connected Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett, but modern highways would soon offer fatal competition. Seattio-Tacornaservice ended in1S28with the opening ofHighway S&and Seattle -Everett service ended 11years later (Seattle ripped upits streetcar lines in1941).After the rejection of previous rail rapid transit proposals, regional voters approved a Sound Transit system in1SSS.|nSeptember 2OOO.Sound Transit inaugurated commuter rail service between Seattle and Tacoma. The Advent of Electric Traction |n1O87,Frank lSprague demonstrated the first electric streetcar in Richmond, Virginia. His invention, dubbed electric traction, offered m new, cleaner, and more efficient way tomove people which, combined with the safety elevator, would permit much denser urban development. |talso created one ofthe first commercially profitable uses for electricity, preceding the spread ofelectric Lighting, industrial machinery, and domestic appliances. Two years Later, Local entrepreneur Frank Osgood (1852- 834), converted his existing horse-drawn streetcar Lines indowntown Seattle toelectricity. Despite fears that the Line would magnetize pocket watches and zap pedestrians with runaway bolts of electricity, the Line's debut onMarch 3U'188Swent flawlessly —and the cars kept running through the Great Seattle Fire ofthe following June. That same year, Fred Sander Launched construction ofanelectric Line tothe southern municipality ofGeorgetown, which was completed in18S3.].K.Edmiston began construction ofanelectric railway tnRenton (later the Seattle, Renton & Southern Railway) in 188Sand completed itseven years later. |n1880,L.H.Griffith extended his existing Seattle streetcar line tothe City ofBallard. Although Georgetown and Ballard later annexed toSeattle, these lines constitute King County'afirst "interurban"systems. An Electric Octopus At this time, streetcar services and most other utilities were privately financed and owned, although their performance was subject to � |me,u,bon.tnTacoma - Ina uguraUmemrban.ca,.p,opa,uo.toloavo.Evorett.fn,. Soattie?Ap,ii8G?70mS Courtoov.Wa,re".Wi"g '^- � ^OELUNOMAH 8u000Joinodjmerudbanxmi"ujn.thoJ0Mo charters or"frunohioeo"granted bycities and other Local governments. The rapid multiplication ofuncoordinated streetcar and interurban Lines inthe late nineteenth century begged for consolidation. This was initially achieved bythe giant Stone & Webster Management Company, founded inBoston byengineer-entrepreneurs Charles A. Stone and Edwin S.Webster. They attracted significant capital for acquisition and/or development ofurban utilities and transportation systems across the nation. |n18S8.Stone & Webster representatives visited King County for the first time. The company soon acquired the vm8ion'ofirst hydroelectric plant mtSnoquairnioFalls and retained Local banker Jacob Furth (184U'1814)moits local agent for taking control ofSeattle-area utilities and street railways. Furth did his job well, and Stone & VVebotor'asubsidiary Seattle Electric Company owned the city'e22 streetcar lines within one year. The concentration ofnomuch control ofvital urban systems in private hands alarmed Local reformers and progressives, who won approval of a restrictive streetcar franchise (including nickel fares) in 1802That same year, Seattle voters approved bonds allowing construction of municipal hydroelectric plant onthe Cedar River, which led tocreation ofSeattle City Light and aLong "power struggle" between public and private utilities. AnInterurban Empire Stone & Webster and its backers wielded control through anarray of interlocking holding and operating companies. One ofthe first local combines was called the Puget Sound International Railway 8Power Company, whose name expressed its financiera'viaionofan interurban transportation and utility system extending from Olympia, Washington, toVancouver, British Columbia. The primary Local corporate instrument, however, was the Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company, which succeeded the Seattle Electric Company and various interurban Lines, and Later evolved into Puget Power and today'oWashington Energy. The private utility's first major step was acquisition ofanincomplete interurban railway from Seattle toTacoma, which had been launched byHenry Bucoyin19O1.Puget Sound Traction, Light f6Power completed the line, which itcalled the Puget Sound Electric Railway, and inaugurated service onSeptember 25'1SO2. Development ofacomparable line ioSeattle's major northern neighbor, Everett, proved more daunting. Fred Sander began work on such osystem in 19OObut ittook him six years tncover six miles from Ballard inHaK'nLake innorth Seattle. Stone & Webster took over the xnjgnoUhe.end1n,.thounco.rnightv]mem,Uan |merurUon.roikmoyolinkoU.E,orott?SeottLo?andTacomo. uofo,e)No,id.Wad| enterprise in1S08and inaugurated its first Everett-Seattieservice on Aprii30.1818. That same year, work began onuLink between Mount Vernon and Bellingham. |n1S12,Stone & Webster created anew subsidiary, Pacific Northwest Traction Company, and commenced construction ofthe missing Link between Everett and Mount Vernon. This was never completed. Back inSeattle Public grievances with Stone &VVobotor'aaging streetcars and increasingly erratic service boiled over onMarch 7'1811'when voters approved municipal purchase ofthe existing Rainier Avenue interurban Line toRenton. The owners reneged onthe original sales price, and Seattle ended upspending the bonds tobuild mnew streetcar Line toBallard. Stone & Webster found its streetcar finances hobbled byfranchise- mandated fanaaand8rovvin8iaborunnyat,doopitothoridon;hip generated byWorld War | defense workers. |nacontroversial move, Seattle Mayor Ole Hanson (1874'1S40)negotiated a$1Smillion purchase ofthe entire city streetcar system, which voters approved nnNovember 5'1S18. The high price (three times market value) and resulting debt crippled municipal streetcar operations for the rest oftheir existence. Various refinance schemes failed and the city converted tobuses and "trackless trolleys" in1S40.The old streetcar rails were torn upand sold toJapan for scrap. End of the Line? Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power retained ownership of its interurban lines, but progress onHighway 9Sand the post-war explosion ofprivate trucks and automobiles ultimately doomed the system. Seattle -Tacoma interurban rail service ended onDecember 3U,1928.Bythen, the company was already offering interurban bus service onits North Coast Lines, but itremained committed tothe Seattle -Everett route and built ahandsome bus -rail depot at9th Avenue and Stewart Street inSeattle (now the Greyhound Ternninai). The independent Seattle fkRainier Valley Railway (the Renton interurban) struggled tosurvive under incompetent management. Weary ofaccidents and unsafe tracks, the City ofSeattle revoked its franchise and the line folded onJanuary 1,1937. Federal anti-trust regulators pulled the plug onStone &VVebater'a national utility cartel in1834,and the firm reorganized under olocal board nfdirectors. |nasign ofchanging attitudes, Highway SS'anew Aurora Bridge opened in1932without provision for interurban rails. Unpaved.SeattleJRenton.interurban.tracks?Rainier. Avenue?December.8&27€30 Courtesy.Seattle.MunicipalArchives.(778W Sound.Transit Sounder commuter.train?July.76?8670 Photo.by.Bruce.Englehardt Anticipating Seattle's removal of local streetcar tracks, the company finally abandoned the Seattle -Everett railway on February 20, 1939. Anti-trust regulators intervened again in the Late 1940s, forcing Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power to sell off its remaining interurban bus services. In 1950, Seattle voters narrowly authorized City Light to acquire the private firm's remaining assets and services within the city limits, ending nearly a half -century of political and economic competition. Back on Track Following World War II, Local urban planners and reformers made repeated attempts to recreate a regional rail transit system to counteract suburban sprawl and growing traffic congestion. King County voters were not convinced and rejected various mass transit plans in 1958, 1962, 1968, and 1970. Attitudes began to shift in 1972, when voters did approve Metro Transit, an all -bus system now operated by King County. A two -to -one majority of King County voters endorsed a 1988 advisory ballot for accelerated development of a rail system, and the 1990 Growth Management Act and related state Legislation authorized serious planning. In 1995, voters in King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties rejected a $6.7 billion Regional Transit Authority (RTA) proposal for light rail, standard-gauge commuter rail, and express buses. A scaled -back "Sound Transit" plan, valued at $3.9 billion, won approval on November 5, 1996. On September 18, 2000, the first Sound Transit "Sounder" commuter trains rolled between Seattle and Tacoma almost 98 years to the day after interurban cars linked the two cities. Sounder runs are to be extended south to the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood and north to Everett, virtually retracing the region's original interurban rail system six decades later. This essay made possible by: King County Sound Transit Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Sources: Richard C. Berner, Seattle.in.the.86th.Century Vol. 1 & 2 (Seattle: Charles Press, 1991); Leslie Blanchard, The.Street.Railway.Era.in. Seattle6A.Chronicle.of.the.First.Six.Decades (Forty Fort, PA: H.E. Cox, 1968); Walt Crowley, Routes,An.Interpretive.History.of.Public. Transportation.in.Greater.Seattle (Seattle: Metro Transit, 1993); Warren Wing, To.Seattle.by.Trolley (Edmonds, WA: Pacific Fast Mail, 1988); Warren Wing, To.Tacoma.by.Trolley (Edmonds, WA: Pacific Fast Mail, 1995). Related Topics Infrastructure Roads & Rails Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. 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