Friday, August 6, 2010

Trolleys in the Land of the Sky

New acquisition for our library:

Trolleys in the Land of the Sky: Street Railways of Asheville, N. C. and Vicinity, David C. Bailey, Joseph M. Canfield, Harold E. Cox (2000).

The history of street railway development in Asheville, North Carolina, dates from about 1880. However, the true trolley era did not begin until 1889 when an overhead electric trolley system was placed in operation by the Asheville Street Railway.

The Asheville Street Railway, after going through a series of receiverships, was acquired (along with other assets) by the Asheville Electric Company in 1897. The Asheville Electric Company was a very small part of the power and traction empire controlled by General Electric. In 1905, General Electric created a new wholly owned subsidiary in which to place its electric railways and power companies. The principal operation in North Carolina was in Raleigh and was named Carolina Power and Light Co. Carolina Power and Light Co. created the Asheville Power and Light Co. in 1912, which acquired all the properties of the Asheville Electric Co. Below is a transfer ticket issued by the Asheville Electric Co.


(click on photograph for larger image)
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1 comment:

  1. I highly recommend this book. You'll learn a lot about Asheville's nooks and crannies that you can't find in the broad market history books.

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