THE ELECTRIC MOTOR LINE

BY WAYNE FANEBUST

EastSioux Falls came into existence with a speed that most certainly surprised the people of Minnehaha County. From the time of the first quarry dig in the spring of 1887, the pace of growth of the new town on the prairie originally called Ives, six miles from Sioux Falls, was truly astonishing. It was all driven by the promise of quartzite stone, commonly referred to as Sioux Falls stone. It was considered to be a mineral resource that would eventually rival silver and gold in the overall scheme of things in South Dakota.

A large measure of the population of Ives was made up of stone-cutters and other quarry workers. Many small homes were built on the town site to accommodate the men and their families. A two-story town hall was erected in 1888, along with other stores and businesses. The Illinois Central Railroad laid down tracks and built a depot and after that, Ives became East Sioux Falls.

As East Sioux Falls suddenly came into sharp focus, anxious folks living in Sioux Falls, including the publisher of the Daily Argus-Leader, saw the new burg as a potential rival. As such, plans were in the works to attract the quarry workers to live in the “big” city. Among the ideas was the plan to create a workers’ train that would act as a commuter line bringing workers out to the quarries in the morning and back to Sioux Falls when the work day ended, at a cost of 5 cents for a round trip. The bottom line was that the workers and their families would add to the population of Sioux Falls.

That never materialized but something similar made a big splash in 1889, when a group of Sioux Falls businessmen formed the South Dakota Rapid Transit and Railroad Company for the purpose of building an electric trolley car line that would connect the two towns. The line was intended to run fast and frequently between Sioux Falls and East Sioux Falls, conveying company officials, workers, customers and visitors back and forth. The idea prompted investors from New York City and Hartford, Connecticut, to purchase land on the east side of Sioux Falls. Quite suddenly, the value of the land doubled.

The project got the green light from the

Sioux Falls city council and soon “dirt was flying,” in accordance with the vernacular of the time. The inception point was the corner of 10th Street and Phillips Avenue. It went east over the 10th Street viaduct that crossed the Big Sioux River and railroad tracks. The viaduct was part of the project and was constructed for the motor line. Then moving past Mount Pleasant Cemetery, it entered into Split Rock Township and on to East Sioux Falls. The trolley was intended to be built further east to the budding town of Rowena, another quarry hub.

Starting on January 27, 1890, the tracks were laid down in an east to west direction. The work proceeded in a timely manner and all went well until the workers reached Sioux Falls. It was then that a right-of-way dispute broke out between the Rapid Transit outfit and another company associated with the horse-drawn street car line, owned by R. F. Pettigrew and S. L. Tate. The motor line men wanted to run their tracks from Second Avenue to Phillips Avenue, a move Pettigrew and Tate could not tolerate. Accordingly, on Saturday night May

24, 1890, the horse people made a sneaky, eleventh hour bid to stop the motor people by haphazardly laying down tracks before the competition reached the area.

Unfortunately for the horse-drawn crew, their clandestine work took them past midnight, causing them to violate Sunday labor laws. They were forced to stop work when an indignant Sioux Falls Mayor Porter Peck, caught them red-handed. This played into the hands of the motor people and late Sunday night they prepared for action. Several wagon loads of quarry workers left East Sioux Falls for the contested area.

At the stroke of midnight, while the horse people were preparing to establish their claim to the street, the motor men formed ranks on 10th Street from First Avenue to Phillips Avenue. In superior numbers, the motor line men flew into a frenzy laying tracks and rails at top speed, to the amusement of a large crowd of cheering men. By 12:20 their line was complete from 10th Street to Phillips Avenue. They had won the battle and were ready to show off some amazing new technology.

The electric line utilized the overhead wire or trolley system that had been successfully used in other cities. The cars were made by the famous Pullman Company of Chicago and were lighted with electricity. In addition to passenger cars, the line featured two observation cars for smokers that were wellupholstered, heated and lighted. The Sprague Edison Company of New York furnished the engines, the power plant and the running gear. The Western Engineering Company of Kearney, Nebraska, set up the poles and strung the copper wire. The grades along the route were considered to be “light” so that a car could travel 10 to 15 miles per hour.

The first trip of the electric motor line occurred on June 21, 1890, with a load of curiosity seekers along with the appropriate dignitaries. Moving a speed that far exceeded the horse-drawn street car line, the motor cars moved out toward East Sioux Falls, crossing seven bridges. The Illinois Central Railroad trestle had been modified to allow the cars to move through it. The line went through a pasture that is now part the Willow Run golf course. It angled southeast into the city of East Sioux Falls and at a point in the extreme southwest corner of Section 21, Split Rock Township close to a creek and the large home of Henry C. Cornell, it reached its terminus. Cornell would often taxi visitors to other parts of East Sioux Falls, and during the summer, he would haul loads of people to the picnic grounds along the river.

The new and novel motor line became a hit with the local people. Everyone seemingly wanted to ride the cars and visit the quarries at East Sioux Falls. Soon a picnic resort appeared along the river that became the favorite destination of the people. For some years after its inception, the Woodland Park, as it was called, kept the motor line busy in the warm weather months. But overall, traffic on the line was sporadic and unsteady, causing the company to lose money. The sharp nationwide economic downturn that followed the financial Panic of 1893, all but destroyed the quarry industry, and eventually the electric car line as well.

By the spring of 1895, the venture was all but broke and a court-appointed receiver, Dr. F. H. Files, was placed in charge of the electric trolley line. Files did his best to breathe life and profit back into the venture, running ads with a revised schedule and excursion rates. As such, during the summer months of 1895, large groups of “pleasure seekers” flocked out to East Sioux Falls to enjoy hiking and camping among the timbered hills. But it wasn’t enough. And by November 1, 1896, traffic along the line was limited to a single car that made one round trip between the cities each day. Despite Dr. Files’ efforts to keep the line going, the amount of money from fares failed to keep up with expenses. For although there were some parties of excursionists in the summer of 1897, it seemed as if the novelty had worn off and folks —who had money to spend — looked elsewhere for fun and entertainment. Then on January 28, 1899, the demise of the oncepromising business venture was announced to the public. The tracks were torn out and the cars packed up for shipping to eastern cities. The only physical evidence of the electric line was a section of the old road bed. The countryside had returned to its quiet, grassy realm that would be interrupted now and then by a cow bellowing for its calf. Indeed the prairie had reclaimed the land. For whatever an impatient mankind casts aside or surrenders, forbearing nature, always steadfast and true, most willing takes back into its fold.