Abstract:
Streetcars were an important part of North Carolina towns during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Originally, mules and horses pulled these cars, but in 1889, Asheville opened the first electric streetcar system in the state. Charlotte and Raleigh followed, and the streetcar allowed such cities to expand and establish suburban neighborhoods. By the 1930s, automobiles and buses replaced the streetcar, but today the system has been revived in the form of Charlotte's CityLYNX Gold Line, which runs three replica trolleys on a 1.5-mile track.