The History of the Trolley

Guthrie Street Railway

Within the first year after the Land Run leaders were looking towards a system of street railways. It was not until May 26, 1905, however, that a street railway system came into operation in Guthrie.

June 8, 1889, the Council of East Guthrie granted a franchise by ordinance to J.H. Hamilton of the Hamilton-Rankin Company to operate an electric railway system in the city. However, financial difficulties stopped the project before it could get started.

Nothing further was done to initiate a street railway until June 30, 1903, when John W. Shartel and A.H. Classen of Oklahoma City, along with a consortium of other investors, negotiated a franchise with the city for a proposed line of six miles of track.

Several delays were encountered, but eventually the line was built and opened with a celebration in 1905.

The streetcars met with enthusiastic support from the public, providing economical and convenient transportation within the city of Guthrie. Usage declined however with the coming of automobiles and by 1929 the service was no longer operating.

The trolley system lay dormant until a new vision by Guthrie citizens brought it back to life.

First Capital Trolley

Guthrie experienced a restful period when the need for public transportation was at a minimum. Several taxi companies came and went, but the thought of a trolley was not in the minds of the citizens.

In 1988 however, a serious, proactive revitalization took place that stimulated commerce, tourism, and the downtown businesses that had suffered the lackluster successes that befall many small towns. The trigger for this revitalization was the realization that Guthrie contained a wealth of spectacular nineteenth and early twentieth-century architecture.

A handful of preservation-minded citizens took it upon themselves to try to recover the grand facades and exterior beauty of Oklahoma's First Capital. The successful effort to restore these buildings resulted in a huge revitalization of the city and the creation of the tourism Industry which is the single most economically valuable asset of Guthrie today. In addition, the downtown area became a viable neighborhood for residents who chose to make their homes in the upper levels of the beautiful downtown buildings, thus taking the restorations well above the street level.

Another natural step in this process was to restore public transportation for the city and at that point, The Logan County Historical Society re-instituted the long-abandoned trolley system and began to do business beginning in November of 1988. The First Capital Trolley Company, which began with only two trolleys, today boasts 59 vehicles of varied sizes and purposes and employs 55 people.

The charming green trolleys can be seen all over the Guthrie Historic District and the First Capital Trolley buses and vans provide a valuable and convenient public service that most towns the size of Guthrie only dream of achieving.