The Development and Consolidation of Atlanta’s Street Railways, 1866-1891

This is a map from a dissertation that was completed in 1975, which has been scanned to ensure greater access. Please search the GIL Online Catalog for more information about this thesis, or to locate the hard copy within the Georgia State University Library. A Note on Maps (from the Appendix): Two main sources were used in the mapping of streetcar routes: franchises and deeds of conveyance. Neither of these alone or combined were completely satisfactory in fixing the exact route, at any given time, of the lines which were built. While the franchise theoretically laid out the route to be followed, the wording of such legislation was often vague or incomplete, and the franchise was no guarantee that the line would eventually be constructed with no modifications. The deeds, on the other hand, represented the routes existing at the time of the conveyance of the property, often many years after initial construction. This leaves open the possibility that routes may have been slightly changed from time to time as traction companies constructed turn-outs, spur lines, parallel tracks, etc. These maps were drawn up under official auspices and therefore represent an additional primary source of information on this question. This does not, however, render them totally free from error or omission. In the case of the West End and Atlanta and the Atlanta Street Railroad companies, for example, the evidence overwhelmingly indicates that they occupied Broad Street between Marietta and Alabama Streets, which is not indicated on the 1886 official map. When one turns to the general problem of tracing downtown tracks, which were altered quite frequently, the problem of accuracy becomes almost insurmountable. Except in these notable instances, in drawing these lines the author has tried to closely follow the routes as already plotted by the map-makers for the year concerned, even though this has entailed minor deviations from the routes as indicated by primary sources. Such discrepancies pertain primarily to the short-lived Taylor Hill Line of the Atlanta Street Railroad Company and the Park Avenue line of the Metropolitan Street Railroad Company. The lines of the companies are drawn in the following color keys: the Atlanta Street Railroad Company, red (with the Taylor Hill Line in orange); the West End and Atlanta Street Railroad Company, brown; the Metropolitan Street Railroad Company, dark blue; the Gate City Street Railroad Company, light blue; the Edgewood and Atlanta Street Railroad Company, black; and the Fulton County Street Railroad Company, green; the Atlanta, West End and McPherson Barracks and Grant Park Electric Railway companies, pink. Prospective routes of other companies are not indicated. Also not included on the 1894 map are the lines which were built by the Chattahoochee River Railway Company (later the Collins Park and Belt Railroad Company), the Atlanta City Street Railway Company, and the Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway Company. These lines can be seen plotted on the map but are not included in the color key