Charleston once had an extensive network of electric trolleys to transport people around the city and surrounding areas. The first electric trolley began operation in Charleston in 1897, replacing an earlier horse-drawn street railway system. Over time, the trolley network expanded but also went through periods of consolidation under different owning companies. The last electric trolley ran in Charleston on February 10, 1938, being replaced by bus service. Some historic trolley cars from Charleston were rescued but have since fallen into disrepair while plans to restore them were cancelled due to economic conditions.

1. Charleston’s Trolleys
Michael Carnell

2. A Question From My
Childhood
•Why did the power company run the buses?
•Answer: Because buses started off as trolleys, and
trolleys ran on electricity!
•Originally lights and power weren’t such a big
thing, but transportation was.

3. Pre-Electric Street Railways

4. October 15, 1866 horse street railways begin - many
different vendors. Just before the merger in 1897
CCRC operated 20 horse cars with 20 more in reserve,
the Enterprise company operated ten cars. Each of
these could hold 20 to 25 passengers.

6. Historical Perspective•1901 President William McKinley shot at Pan American Expo, 9/6/1901 died 9/14
•1901-2 West Indian Expo and Ivory City
•1901 Start of shipyard
•1907 Union Station built at Columbus Street
•1910 shipyard opens
•1912 Titanic sinks
•1914 World War 1 starts, but US not in it yet
•1915 May 15 - Lusitania sunk off Ireland
•1916 July 15-17 closed due to hurricane
•1917 April 6, US declares war on Germany and enters WW1
•1917 Women’s suffrage reaching a high point and National Women’s Party formed
•1918 shipyard highpoint
•1918 First World War ends
•1920 Women’s voting rights passed in summer and women can vote in Nov elections
•1920 to 1933 - Prohibition in the US
•1927 new company and layoffs
•1928 Grace Memorial Bridge over the Cooper River starts construction
•1929 Cooper River bridge opens as toll bridge
•1929 October, stock market crash
•1934 Navy yard line replaced by buses
•1936 May, Gone with the Wind published

7. First Electric Trolley In Charleston -
June 26, 1897

8. Trolley vs Streetcar vs
Tram vs .....
Note: A cable car is not a trolley!

9. About 1902

10. At East Bay

11. Date Unknown, But Note The Wagons

12. A Short Video
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.

13. 1906 - Note The Poles

14. The 1920s

15. King Street 1910

16. And Night (Same Guys?)

17. About 1912

18. East Bay Street

19. Meeting at Market

20. Meeting S.O.B.

21. The Station At Columbus
Street

22. Getting Around

23. Example Times

26. Mt Pleasant to Sullivan’s
Island To Isle Of Palms

27. The Tourist Route
•Train into Charleston
•Ferry from Charleston wharf to Mt. Pleasant
•On to trolley at Pitt Street
•Across the inlet to Sullivan’s Island
•On to amusement park on Isle of Palms

28. A Day At The Beach

29. Murder She Wrote
•December 1936
•Cast:
•Motorman Grover P. McClure
•Corrie McClure - His Estranged Wife
•Her Dog
•Clarence Levy (age 81) -The Oldest Policeman
in Charleston

30. Last Electric Trolley
5pm February 10, 1938
5pm February 10, 1938

31. The Metrics

32. A Fond Farewell
Perhaps I’m just old fashioned
but my heart is sore within.
I’m grieving for the streetcars
in spite of clamor and din.
I’m thinking of that welcome sound
when a restless night is o’er,
the comfort of that early car
as it passes by my door.
I’m thinking of the men who drive
their patience and their cheer.
How they must have grown to love it
and - I find I shed a tear.
‘Tis hard to see the old things go
to make a way for new.
Tho buses may be very grand
here’s, old streetcars, to you.
- News & Courier

33. History of Mergers
Charleston Gas Light Co. Charleston Electric Light Co. Charleston City Railway Co.
Enterprise Street
Railway Co.
Charleston & Seashore
Railway Co.
United States Illuminating
Company
Charleston Light & Power Co. Charleston City Railway Co.
Charleston Consolidated Railway,
Gas & Electric Company - 1899
South Carolina Power Company - 1926
South Carolina Electric & Gas
SCE&G - 1948

34. Tokens - Signs of Change

35. The Trolley Barn
665 Meeting Street

36. The Trolley barn Today

37. Current PLans??

38. What Has Happened?

39. Used as House in West
Ashley Until 2008

40. Were Going To Be
Restored
•Magnolia Development was going to restore them
•To be used in a development on the neck
•Then the markets crashed
•Post & Courier article on them in 2010 Link
•Unfortunately they now sit exposed to weather,
vandalism and general decay

41. As They Are Today
Actually even worse now...

42. The Interior

43. For SCANA’s 150th

44. A Tale With A Twist

45. For Further Reference
• CharlestonRail.org
• Palmetto Traction: Electric railways of South Carolina by Thomas T. Fetters,
1978
• SCANA's First 150 Years: Building on Success by SCANA Corporation, 1996
• South Carolina Electric & Gas Company: 1846 - 1964 by Nell C. Pogue, 1964
• Uptown/Downtown in Old Charleston: Sketches and Stories by Louis D. Rubin Jr,
2010
• The Golden Weather ("Fiction") by Louis D. Rubin Jr, 1995
• Southern States Trolleys in Color (Does not include Charleston!) by Edward A.
Ridolph, 2004

46. Thank You!