John Wesley Hartzell believed every city in Kansas needed a street railway - they just didn’t know it yet. In 1883, Mister Hartzell convinced the Wichita city council to let him build a streetcar system. These cars were pulled by mules, so the routes were short but the people of Wichita were thrilled. In 1887, a man named James Oakley Davidson built the first electric streetcar system. The electric streetcars went to the entire city. At the beginning of the new century, after some shady dealings by the “Eastern Capitalists,” a new streetcar company was established with even better streetcars, but in 1914 a new technology presented the streetcar company with a totally new challenge: gasoline powered vehicles. Automobiles and buses eventually replaced the streetcars and the last streetcar ran in 1935. Using photos and newspaper accounts, this class will look at the fascinating history of Wichita’s streetcars.

Instructor: Tony Myers, Author