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Trolley ride thrills town

Can you hear it? There at the corner of 8th Street and Frisco? If you try hard enough, you might hear a faint echo of the call, Thom-m-mpsonvill-l-e! From 1909 until 1914 street car conductor Dell West called out his personal name for that corner several times a day as he and his passengers rode the trolley one and a quarter miles from the Santa Fe and Rock Island lines on the east end of Frisco to the Orient Line tracks on the west side of town. Why Thompsonville at that corner? W.R. Thompson was vice-president and manager of the company which financed the installation of the electric street car line, and he lived on the corner of 8th and Frisco. Among those who held stock in the street car line were R.O. Hunt, C.G. Welch, Herman Smith, Harry L. Quiett, Charles Goodwin, Dell West and Bill Crawford. The first streetcar was operated with a gasoline engine, but after the first year of operation, it proved to be too expensive to maintain. As a result, in 1910, the streetcar corporation bought a second-hand electric coach from the Chicago Transit Authority, and pressed forward with high hopes for the much needed transportation in the growing city. Frances Goodwin, daughter of Ben and Fannie Littell, told of riding the trolley as a child. Mama would give me a nickel and let me get on [the trolley] down at the east end of Frisco, and Id ride clear out to the west end. When we got there, the conductor would walk down the aisle and turn the seats backward, then get out and put the cable on the other end, and wed go back down Frisco. Pete--thats C.N. Goodwin, my future husband-- told some pretty wild stories about chasing the trolley down the tracks. But the thrill of a trolley ride and the convenience it gave to passengers who had to change from one depot to the other was shortlived. In 1914, the streetcar was transporting a load of passengers from the old Orient depot down to the Frisco-Rock Island station, when the operator of the street car failed to make his customary stop before crossing the railroad tracks. A train approaching from the south struck the streetcar and totally demolished it. One man was killed, and five were injured. A lawsuit would have been brought against the streetcar owners, barring one minor detail. When the corporation was first founded, no formal agreement had been made among the partners. As a result, after the accident everyone denied ownership of the line, and no one could be proved responsible. Consequently, the lawsuit was abandoned, as was the streetcar itself after

only 5 years of operation. The dream of streetcar transportation has long since faded for our city. However, Scott Moore, an electrician with Williams Electric, reported that remnants of the buried cable system were uncovered in August, 1994. At that time local utilities worked with the city to dig a ditch in the alley from 4th to 8th Street so that wires for Public Service Company, Southwestern Bell Telephone and Sammons Communications could be placed underground. Just stand a minute at 8th Street and listen. Can you hear it? Thom-pson-vill-l-e!

800 Block
R.S. Meacham CPAs & Advisors Meacham & Meacham Attys. Denver Meacham II, Atty. Randolph Meacham, Atty. David Stratton, Atty. Clinton Savings & Loan Herndons Champion Hayden Harris Oil Co. Tag Agency Wick Service Station Fredrick Oil Company Bob Walters Service Station Motopower Gasoline Clinton Independent Oil Co. Stehrs Buick Dealership

Times change, but

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Homefinders Salisbury Pharmacy Styleorama Beauty Salon Stehr Motor Sales Clinton Electric Co. Howard Parrett Radio Service Meacham Attys. Princess Dream Carpet Corner Dollar General Store Maddox Hardware Store Hoffman Furniture Stehr Motor Sales Rex Self Buick Company J O Witten Hudson Cars Bills Body Shop K H Fulbright Plumbing

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