Site of Fort Worth-Dallas Interurban
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1901 the Texas Legislature authorized the Northern Texas Traction Company of Fort Worth to extend rail service to Dallas. The interurban system, powered by overhead electrical lines, was completed one year later. The thirty-five mile trip took just over an hour. Passengers could flag the train and board at any point on the route. Each car held up to forty travelers. Rail traffic began to decline in the 1930s when paved roads were constructed between the two cities, and the last train made the interurban run on Christmas Eve, 1934. (1980)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1901 the Texas Legislature cleared the way for an electric interurban line linking Fort Worth and Dallas, and within a year the overhead wires were humming. The thirty-five-mile trip took just over an hour, cars carried up to forty passengers, and riders could flag the train down anywhere along the route. Paved highways eventually stole its traffic, and the last car rolled on Christmas Eve, 1934.
Why it matters
Interurban electric railways briefly knit American cities together in a way the automobile would soon undo, and their rise and fall traces the shift from rail to road that reshaped the country.
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