The following is
my initial attempt at providing a cache with reference to
“The Lost Twin Cities.”
Origins of street
rail transportation in the Twin Cities dates back to around 1867
when Dorilus Morrison began building a streetcar system in downtown
Minneapolis. Eventually this system would become known as the
Minneapolis Street Railway.
It wasn't until
1872 that St. Paul saw it's first successful horse-drawn streetcar
operated by the St. Paul Railway Co.
In the 1880,s
both companies, in Minneapolis and St. Paul, moved away from
horse-drawn streetcars following their decision of electrification
of their respective lines.
In 1890 the two
cities were connected by a railway along University Avenue, the
first of four rail lines linking the cities. A merger of the two
city systems, the St. Paul City Railway Company and the Minneapolis
Street Railway, that same year formed the Twin City Rapid Transit
Company.
The newly formed
company went on a building and upgrading spree which included
absorbing smaller competitors for the next forty
years.
One route that
was not originally available to the company was from downtown St.
Paul to the length of Selby Avenue due to the existing steep grade
the streetcars could not navigate up the hill near the St. Paul
Cathedral. Because of this circumstance a tunnel was constructed in
1905 to ease the incline up the hill to Selby. The streetcars could
now easily negotiate the incline emerging from the upper end of the
tunnel at a point around Nina Street. The tunnel was over twenty
feet wide and had two sets of rails running through
it.
The tunnel was
eventually closed and paved over on the upper end around 1953 when
the streetcars were dropped in favor of buses. The lower end of the
tunnel was also closed and eventually cemented
shut.
The glimpse into
our past that is still available is the original downtown approach
to the hill and tunnel. The ornate iron railings and the two sets
of tracks are still there. Though somewhat battered by time and
disrepair it provides a look back in time. Perhaps one of the last
places in the Twin Cities the rails from our original “light
rail” system still exists.