Streetcar Sunday - Seattle, Washington

Seattle had horse-drawn streetcars on unpaved streets as early as 1884, but only five years later, Seattle was the first West Coast city to convert to electric streetcars. Streetcar service was booming then, but already started declining in the 1920s. In 1939, interurban train service between Seattle and Everett was suspended. Seattle residents wanted to retain streetcar service, but the financing was allegedly blocked by automakers. And in 1941, the last Seattle streetcar completed its final run.

Like many other cities, Seattle looked at reintroducing streetcar service. As early as 1974, City Councilman George Benson proposed a streetcar line. It was discussed for a long time, and service was re-introduced in 1982, with additional expansions since then. To find out more about the current system, visit Seattle Streetcar.

Here's the back of the card:

Here's another view of Pioneer Place in Seattle:

Grand Island, Nebraska

The City of Grand Island really was once an island between the Wood and North Platte rivers. The settlement was moved north of the Platte River in the late 1800s, but the name was retained.

Some of the buildings shown on this postcard are still standing, including the Hotel Yancey, which is now the Yancey Condominiums, but the street seems to have lots some of its liveliness and charm. On the other hand, I do wonder how many of those figures in the first postcard were really there. Notice how they all look the same?


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Tracy the Troublemaker

Remember Tracy? No, of course you don't, but I suspect he was a real character. I  have a number of postcard addressed to him. Click here for a link to the previous one, where it appears he had been trying to fix a ballgame. And here's another one below, postmarked February, 1906.  Oh, Tracy, what have you done?

Hmmm, no indication of who sent it.