Montgomery, Alabama: World’s First Electric Trolley //

In the 1880s, the world relied on horses as the most effective means to get from one place to another. As cities grew, wagons clogged downtown streets and people searched for a more efficient means of travel. When cutting-edge public transportation technology was developed, Montgomery, Ala., would be become the site of the world’s first electric trolley system.

The technology was developed by Charles Joseph Van Depoele, a Belgian-American inventor. Capital City Street Railway system, known locally as the Lightning Route, debuted in 1886 to much fanfare. In 1936, the trolleys were switched for buses. The Montgomery Union Station held out till 1979, when Amtrak bypassed the city entirely. 

There was a Montgomery streetcar boycott from 1900 to 1902 to protest segregated service. However, the city council passed the Montgomery Streetcar Act in 1906 that further mandated a continuation of segregation. Segregation ended with the famous Montgomery bus boycott started by Rosa Parks and led by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and E. D. Nixon that lasted from December 2, 1955, to December 20, 1956.