Trolley Thursday 7/15/21 - The Fresno Traction Company

We're now out of the Bay Area on today's Trolley Thursday (on a Friday?) as we head inland to look at the streetcars and interurbans of the Central Valley! We start our journey today with one of the biggest and most-notable cities in the CV, Fresno (Spanish for "ash tree"). Between 1885 and 1939, streetcars were the way to get around town and in 1903, all of these companies were consolidated under the Fresno Traction Company by (who else?) Henry E. Huntington of the Pacific Electric Railway. Under electrification, the city was able to ease out into the suburbs and rostered almost one-hundred electric streetcars until growth stagnated and automobile ownership took over this once-proud backcountry streetcar. On today's Trolley Thursday, let's get on our high horse and ride through the ash trees as we appreciate the brief but bright history of the Fresno Traction Company!