New Banners Honor History of San Diego Streetcars
New Banner on Park Blvd. Commemorating History of San Diego Streetcar System
With the installation of the new streetcar banners on Park Boulevard and Adams Avenue by the University Heights Community Development Corporation, this is a good time to reflect on the importance of the trolley lines in the early development of University Heights.
As John D. Spreckels, founder of the San Diego Electric Railway in 1891, once said, "Before you can hope to get people to live anywhere ... you must first of all show them that they can get there quickly, comfortably, and above all, cheaply. Transportation determines the flow of population."
Transportation played a key role in the early development of University Heights. After the final link between San Diego and the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1885, several speculative real estate developments were begun in San Diego, including University Heights. On August 6, 1888, Subdivision map #558 was filed with the San Diego County Recorder, delineating the new University Heights subdivision.
Early Streetcar Lines in University Heights
Electric Rapid Transit, 1885-1888. Source: USC Libraries.
As streets were graded, water and sewer lines established, and lots offered for sale in University Heights, the Electric Rapid Transit (ERT) extended its electrified cable car in 1888 from downtown San Diego up Fourth Street to University Avenue (then Normal Street) and then up Park Boulevard to University Heights.
However, the ERT experienced difficulties right from the start, including frequent shutdowns, various alterations and repairs, an oil shortage, and legal battles. And so by 1889, the line closed.
That year, the San Diego Cable Railway Company organized using leftover assets from the ERT and developed a five-acre park in 1890 called “The Bluffs” at the end of the rail line at Park Blvd. and Adams Avenue in University Heights to increase ridership. However, due to a series of financial setbacks, the Cable Railway Company was also forced to shut down in 1891 after just 13 months of operation.
The Cable Railway Company was then bought by George Kerper in 1895, who reorganized it into the Citizens Traction Company. Kerper electrified the rail line and renamed The Bluffs to Mission Cliff Park. Unfortunately, the Citizens Traction Company also went into receivership in 1898 during the height of a nationwide depression.
Expansion of Streetcar Lines by San Diego Electric Railway
San Diego Electric Railway Route Map, 1925. Source: Rails of the Silver Gate by Richard V. Dodge, 1960.
In the late 1880s, John D. Spreckels, son of wealthy "Sugar King" Claus Spreckels, began investing in San Diego’s infrastructure. In 1891, he formed the San Diego Electric Railway (SDERY) and started buying and consolidating several of San Diego’s failed or failing transportation lines.
By 1910, the SDERY was the only remaining trolley operator in San Diego, covering over 165 miles of track from La Jolla to Chula Vista. The new railway routes extended into barren scrubland and paved the way for new neighborhoods, including University Heights, North Park, Hillcrest, and Mission Hills.
After purchasing the Citizens Traction Company in 1898, the SDERY renamed Mission Cliff Park to Mission Cliff Gardens. The park encompassed some 40 acres at its height in 1914.
In 1910, the City of San Diego announced that the Panama-California Exposition would be held in Balboa Park in 1915. This led to a large-scale increase in home, hotel, and apartment construction throughout the city, including University Heights, and the streetcar line along Park Blvd. was extended to Balboa Park.
Adams Avenue Trolley Carbarn, c. 1915. Source: San Diego History Center.
In 1913, the San Diego Electric Railway built a massive trolley car barn on Adams Avenue at Florida Street. The cavernous reinforced concrete building was used to store and perform minor service to several hundred trolleys that entered and exited the carbarn through a series of switches off Florida Street.
Decline and Demise of Streetcar Lines in San Diego
By the 1930s, streetcars were losing business to city buses and private automobiles. In 1948, Jesse L. Haugh purchased the San Diego Electric Railway Company from the Spreckels interests and changed the name to San Diego Transit System. San Diego became the first major California city to convert to an all-bus transit system.
And so, on April 24, 1949, at 5:35 a.m., N.A. Holmquist, the most senior operator at San Diego Transit, drove car # 446 into the Adams Avenue trolley car barn, ending rail transit in San Diego.