Springfield Traction Company Expands
Immediate service to new shops is promised
Springfield Republican, July 22, 1909
"Street car service to the new [Frisco] shops within from thirty to sixty days is promised in the agreement between manager W. A. Bixby of the Springfield Traction company and the county court, effected yesterday during a discussion of the thirty-five-year franchise, which the court subsequently granted to the company.
"The franchise granted the company by the county court permits the construction of the Atlantic Street line to the new shops and the Nichols Street and Park Avenue line to the new shops. Mr. Bixby told the court that the Atlantic Street line would be completed within sixty days, the limit set by the court, and that very likely the work would be completed in thirty days.
"The company has six months to complete the Nichols Street line and one year to complete the cross town line, which is also included in the franchise. That part of the cross town line that lies outside the city will run on Campbell Street from Kearney Street to Talmadge Street, connecting there with the Doling Park line.
"The franchise also includes the right to reconstruct and operate the old line on the Broad Street extension to Zoo Park.
"The Traction Company has not yet applied for a franchise for the proposed interurban line between Springfield and Carthage, but it is known that the county court is favorable to the enterprise. The interurban line will come in on Nichols Street. The proposed franchise for the parts of the new lines in the city is now pending in the city council."
See Springfield's Urban Histories for chapters about the 1916-1917 Streetcar Strike and the 1922 Frisco Shopmen's Strike. Click on the image above for a streetcar map circa 1920's.
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