Philadelphia versus the Trolley

All the elements of the trolley debate were present in Philadelphia in the spring of 1892 when the residents and the trolley company fought over the issue of installing overhead wires. The city had one of the largest streetcar systems in the United States and most of it was controlled by the politically powerful Philadelphia Traction Company (PTC). It was under the prodding of the PTC that the city council began holding hearings in March 1892 on legislation to permit installation of the trolley system.

Interestingly the city had already banned overhead wires in the early 1880s but the ordinance contained many loopholes and the wires proliferated. In 1892 opposition to the city’s street railroads was well-established. The citizens had little love for the companies that fixed prices, distributed stocks to politicians, and fought bitterly in the courts against the limited obligations required of them, such as street paving.

The opposition formed a “Union Committee”(UC) to coordinate their action. The“Union Committee”(UC) brought together a wide variety of groups, including:
    Urban reform organizations like the Municipal League,
    Small-business trade associations such as the Board of Trade (predecessor to the Chamber of Commerce, The Wheelmen’s Street Improvement Association, an organization of bicycle enthusiasts. There was some old middle class in the urban core and the“Union Committee”(UC) mobilized them.