Early view of Richmond Streetcars

(Click on image for larger view - click on it twice for extra large view)

I got this image from Ebay - the seller did not know the original source. It appears to be from a journal. My guess is the image is from the 1890s.  

Unfortunately, there is not a comprehensive site on Richmond's early streetcar system - but here is one with an overview of its history and some nice images.  And here's a good site on Frank J. Sprague, who came to Richmond in 1887-1888 to install what became the world's first large-scale electric trolley line. The best monograph on Richmond's streetcar history is Rails in Richmond by Carlton Norris McKenney, published in 1986.

Other sites on Richmond's streetcars - Here and Here.

- Ray B. 

Main Street from 11th, ca. 1905 - Amazing image.

(Click on image for a much larger view)

 "Main Street from Eleventh. Richmond, Virginia," ca. 1905, Detroit Publishing Company glass negative - I came across this image from Shorpy "Always Something Interesting" web site. Lots of neat images at that site. The Detroit Publishing Co. was one of the nation's largest producers of postcards. If you look closely, you will see that they are laying the tracks for the "new" streetcar system.

 The view today.

Early Richmond Streetcar Ticket, ca. 1905

Image of the front and back of an early [ca. 1905]
ticket for a Richmond streetcar courtesy of Richard Bland.

Click here for a brief history of the founding
of the various streetcar companies in Richmond.

Main Street Looking West, 1400 block, ca. 1910.

Here's 14th and Main St. looking West - compare this to the images in the
previous post which looks East. This image courtesy Selden Richardson.

Click on the image for a larger view.


And here is yet another view of the block looking West
from the Times Dispatch, Richmond, Jan. 16, 1910, click HERE for the PDF of that page.
.-----
for one more view click here

- Ray B.

Image of Main Street, Richmond Times, August 18, 1901.

From the Chronicling America web site - check out this great image of Main Street from the Richmond Times, August 18, 1901. I've never seen this published before. Nor have I figured out what block this is. I assume we're looking west - maybe near 9th Street?

Click here to see the entire page.

Click for larger view.

Click for larger view.

Click for larger view.

Richmond streetcar images on E. Broad Street, 1940.

I got the following two black and white photographs on Ebay this week.
I paid $3.00 and that included postage - a pretty good deal.

Image #1 - Streetcar on the 100 Block of E. Broad Street -
most likely Sept. 1940 [which is the date written on the back of image #2
which appear to be taken at the same time].
Click on the image for a larger view.

I used a 1940 Richmond directory to identify the businesses and the block.

Here's the view of that block I copied today from Google Maps.

Image #2 - Here's an image of a Richmond streetcar on the the 200 block of E. Broad.

One the back of the photograph someone wrote the date Sept. 1, 1940.

Click on the image for a larger view.

- Ray Bonis