Rollin’ history

Once upon a time in bustling Baton Rouge, people rode streetcars. Real ones.

On April 6, 1893, a bottle of champagne and a silver spike inaugurated the city’s first electric streetcar route, a 3.55-mile “City Belt.” For five cents a ride, six cars transported passengers starting at Main and 19th streets, traveling to Lafayette Street, along St. Ferdinand Street, and circling left up Government Street to 19th and starting again. Five years later, fire destroyed all six cars and their storage barns, causing a two-month service disruption.

But life and the streetcars rolled on. By 1913, the East Boulevard Line was created, raising the city’s total track mileage to 6.23 miles. This route started at Lafayette Street, went out to Florida Street at 13th Street, crossing to North Boulevard, turning onto East Boulevard and extending to Howard Street. Look to the median on East Boulevard for proof.

In August 1924, the North Baton Rouge Line or “Dixie” Line opened to help transport workers to the ever-expanding industrial area. This route also started at Lafayette Street, took Florida Street to 22nd, over to Fuqua Street, crossing to 23rd, down to Seminole Street, along to Hiawatha Street, up to Wyandotte Street heading to Baton Rouge Avenue and over to Weller Street. The East line also changed its route a wee bit at that time.

Even three lines, 18 streetcars, and a peak of more than 3 million annual passengers couldn’t thwart inevitable overtaking by buses and cars. By the end of April 1936, all of the streetcars were gone, with the last having rolled April 23 on the City Belt line. For more streetcar history, check out Louis C. Hennick and E. Harper Charlton’s Louisiana: Its Streets and Interurban Railways.