Nashville History Corner

The Franklin Interurban Railway

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

The Franklin Interurban Railway was proposed by Henry Horton Mayberry of Franklin in 1907. The line was dedicated on Christmas Day 1908. At the time of its inception, it was said that 90 percent of the people living in Franklin had never been to Nashville. The operation was powered by a steam electric generating plant that was less than a mile north of Franklin across the street from the Dortch Stove Works (now The Factory at Franklin) and a diesel electric generator at its Midway Station in Brentwood. Through a contractual agreement, it was powered by the Nashville Railway and Light Company within the city limits of Nashville.

The route started by encircling the Civil War Monument on Franklin’s public square. It proceeded in a westerly way out of town, made a sharp right turn, and continued toward Nashville passing the aforesaid steam electric power plant. The route into Nashville was never far from the Franklin Pike. Some of the trackage was on the east side and some on the west side.

One crossover was at Overton Lane and another at Elysian Fields Road. There were two others, both south of Brentwood. Most landowners along the pike, including the Thompsons and the Overtons, gave the Franklin Interurban owners easements to cross their farms. The wealthiest man on the road, James E. Caldwell, who lived at Longview on the west side of Franklin Pike, did not. He sued to force the railway to come down the east side of Franklin Pike, which would have been much more expensive because the land there was much higher. Caldwell lost his lawsuit and the Franklin Interurban came across Longview’s wide front

field where the railway had a stop. Each time the streetcar approached the Caldwell stop, the conductor blew his whistle, annoying the Caldwells. There were numerous other stops where customers could board and depart the coaches. One stop had a small structure to guard against the weather. It still stands on the east side of Franklin Pike across from Robertson Academy Road.

At Bradford Avenue, where the Nashville City limits ended, the Franklin Interurban used the trackage of the Nashville Trolley Lines on Eighth Avenue to Broad Street and then to the foot of Broad Street, its terminus.

The coaches used were somewhat better than the typical streetcar of the day. A single conductor-operator was the entire crew. Overton Thompson Jr., who grew up at Glen Leven, usually rode his pony to Robertson Academy. However, when it was cold or rainy he would ride the Interurban. If there was nobody else aboard, the conductor would occasionally let him drive. Joe Thompson, Jr., a first cousin, who grew up next door to Glen Leven also rode his pony to Robertson Academy in the early 1930s. He would ride the Interurban when the weather was wet or cold.

There were always two coaches in service, one departing Franklin and one departing Nashville on each hour. They met and passed each other by a siding at the Brentwood Midway Station.

The Franklin Interurban also operated a freight service. Their most important customer was the Dortch Stove Works. A short quarter mile track from the line at the Franklin steam electric generating station ran east into the stove works where it hauled out the heavy cast-iron coal and wood burning stoves manufactured there. The line also hauled farm products from the farms along Franklin Pike.

When Franklin Pike was paved with asphalt in 1925, the Franklin Interurban had passed its zenith. By World War II, it was in steady decline. By 1942, the Nashville Trolley Lines had switched over to buses. The Interurban followed suit and by the middle 1950s, it ceased operation altogether.