Memory Of The Week: The History Of Public Transportation In Tuscaloosa

Editor's Note: As part of an ongoing partnership with our friends at Historic Tuscaloosa, Patch will be bringing you a quick piece of local history per week provided by those working hard to preserve the memories of our community.

As a non-profit, 501 (c)3, Historic Tuscaloosa operates on a daily basis from membership dues and is always looking for new members. Everyone is welcome to join and those interested are asked to visit historictuscaloosa.org or call (205) 758-2238.

TUSCALOOSA, AL — This installment of Historic Tuscaloosa's Memory of the Week series takes a look back at the history of public transportation in Tuscaloosa, which can trace its roots back to the end of the American Civil War.

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Historic Tuscaloosa's Event & Digital Media Coordinator Sarah-Katherine Helms told Patch The need for public transportation grew after the war. She then said in 1871, 10 Tuscaloosa businessmen promised to put funds into a streetcar project, but the effort failed to materialize until 1882.

Beginning the following year and lasting until about 1900, streetcar service began in Tuscaloosa with the arrival of the city's first horsecar trolly, which was operated by the Tuskaloosa Street Railway, with streetcars pulled on a rail by mules and mustangs.

"The Street Railroad is the most business-looking thing about town," an unnamed scribe for the Tuscaloosa Times penned on June 28, 1882.

Historic Tuscaloosa says that by December 1887, the firm had 38 horses and mules, with some of the horses being mustangs from Texas.

Helms also said the horses were broken on the streets, giving onlookers amusement and, sometimes, excitement. Each trolley car was drawn by two horses or mules and had a driver who collected fares.

Former state lawmaker and Alabama Governor W. W. Brandon went on to become the most notable driver for the streetcar line, serving about a year.

Then came the steam dummy train line, which began operating in 1888 under the guidance of the Tuskaloosa Belt Railway.

Helms said the "dummy" was a small steam locomotive that replaced mule-drawn cars, with the line running along over seven miles of track. The train was referred to as such because it wasn't a real train engine.

"There’s an overlap of about eight years in which the dummy and the horsecar trolley were both in use," she explained. "The horsecar trolley was no longer needed in the late 1890s when the dummy line was extended to Riverview.

The dummy line was in operation until 1915, when the street rail was electrified.

Historic Tuscaloosa says on June 12, 1912, a citizens’ petition requested the city commission to negotiate with a corporation to construct an electric car line.

The contract was ultimately awarded to F. W. Morris, which was contingent on the plans that the line would be in operation by December 31, 1913.

"However, the street paving program interfered with the construction of the electric car line, and Morris was forced to ask for several time extensions to complete the electric car system," Helms said. "The requests were granted, and the line was completed on Feb. 27, 1915, but according to Ben Green's account, the first electric cars were run on the streets of Tuscaloosa on June 30, 1915."

In one photo from 1917 provided by the nonprofit, it was said that the speed limit in downtown Tuscaloosa was 12 miles per hour.

The electric trolly line was ultimately sold by the Tuscaloosa Railway and Utilities Company on Nov. 1, 1923, to Alabama Power Company for $1.1 million.

Historic Tuscaloosa says the total trackage was about 14 miles, with its car barn and shop located on the northeast corner at the intersection of 4th Street and 22nd Avenue.

Alabama Power would go on to operate the electric car system in Tuscaloosa for the next 18 years before the advent of buses.

Going into effect on May 14, 1941, most electric streetcars were pulled offline during the transition to a bus system, with all passenger service ceasing in 1942.

Before Alabama Power sold its franchise in 1946, the city buses traveled 1,138,232 miles along the streets of Tuscaloosa and transported an exact total of 6,480,940 passengers.

A couple of decades later — from August 1964 to April 1965, specifically — Tuscaloosa found itself without a public transportation system.

However, on April 12, 1965, The Tuscaloosa Transit Company began operating with a few old school buses. It's office and barn were located at 2135 Greensboro Avenue and the company grew to operate six buses and seven routes, while employing a total of 10 drivers.

In 1971, the Tuscaloosa Transit Authority, which is still around today, was set up by an act of the state legislature and commenced its operations as a local, government-owned bus system.

At present, the Tuscaloosa Transit Authority serves the city of Tuscaloosa and also operates the trolleys between the student entertainment districts downtown and The Strip and game day shuttle buses for Alabama football games.

The city in 1998 then made the move to Trolley Illusion buses, which came out of a study showing that the city needed smaller, more economical buses. As stated by the Tuscaloosa Transit Authority, the trolley is an illusion and it is an El Dorado Transmark RE bus that is painted to look like a trolley.

The Tuscaloosa Transit Authority says the look blends well with the historic nature of the town, with the new system beginning in the fall of 1999 as a joint effort of the City of Tuscaloosa and the Tuscaloosa Transit Authority.

The trolley line remains in operation to this day. Click here to learn more about the routes and operations of the Tuscaloosa Transit Authority.

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