A Guide to the History of Richardson, Texas: Cemeteries

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Historic Structures in or near Richardson

INTERURBAN BRIDGE SUPPORTS

From the forthcoming book, RICHARDSON: A History of One of the Biggest Small Cities in Texas

Texas Traction Interurban car
This authentic Interurban car is on display at the Interurban Museum in nearby Plano, Texas. Author photo.

In 1908, a new form of transportation literally arrived in Richardson. Looking a little like a street car on steroids, for the next forty years the Interurban was the preferred means of travel for many area residents, especially those without autos. The first Interurban in the United States began operating in 1889 in Ohio. However, owing to the depression of the 1890s and the large amount of capital that needed to be raised for such an undertaking, it wasn't until just after the dawn of the twentieth century that the very first line in North Texas, spanning the ten-mile distance from Sherman to Denison (or vice-versa) began operating.

Like streetcars of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Interurban, which closely resembled a street car, only larger, was powered by electricity, which interestingly was provided by direct current, rather than the alternating current then being championed by inventor Nicola Tesla and commonplace throughout the world today. Regardless, we might think of an Interurban car a sort of "green machine" since the car itself emitted no fumes or smoke (although coal was burned by power plants to generate the electricity that made it run). Unlike street cars, however, the Interurban offered travelers a convenient, inexpensive, and relatively fast way to travel outside of and in-between cities, not just within them.

On the Interurban, the journey from Richardson to the heart of downtown Dallas took from forty-two to forty-five-minutes each way. From Richardson to Denison, the northernmost terminus of the line, the trip length was two hours and twenty-eight minutes. For some unknown reason, the run from Denison to Richardson was shorter-only two hours and six minutes.

Service officially began on Wednesday, July 1, 1908, after the Texas Traction Company, headed by an entrepreneur named J. F. Strickland, had finished building sixty-five miles of track from Dallas to link up with the already-operating Sherman to Denison line, with which the Texas Traction Company eventually consolidated. The line, then the longest in Texas, paralleled the already-existing H.&T.C. tracks for about half the distance between Dallas and Sherman. On average, the right-of-way measured eighty feet across, although in some places it was as narrow as sixty feet and in others as wide as one-hundred-and-twenty feet.

The company also erected twelve bridges on the Dallas to Sherman run, to carry the cars over the various creeks that lay along the route. These spans were made of riveted steel with concrete foundations. One of these crossed Spring Creek, which flows through the present-day Spring Creek Nature Preserve in the northern part of Richardson.

Interurban Bridge postcard
Although it says "Dallas," this photo could have been taken near Richardson, where the Interubran tracks paralled those of the H.&T.C.

In 1916, the Texas Traction Company merged with the Southern Traction Company to become the Texas Electric Railway (TER) Company, the name it kept until its demise at the end of 1948. Apart from the name change, passengers were largely unaffected by the merger.

Today, the only tangible evidence of the Interurban in Richardson is the name "Interurban Street" on signposts in "downtown" Richardson. Why? Because almost immediately following the discontinuance of service at the end of 1948, the Texas Electric Railway lost no time selling off its property and dismantling its tracks. No doubt the rails, made of 80-pound steel in thirty-three-foot lengths, brought a fair return as scrap metal.

However, although the rails and ties are now largely gone, remnants of some of the twelve bridges that were built for the Texas Traction Company in 1908 can still be seen on the North Central Texas landscape. One pair of supports can easily be seen from the paved trail that winds its way through the present-day Spring Creek Nature Preserve in the northern part of Richardson. A much newer DART train bridge and an automobile bridge cross near the same point.

Interurban bridge support at Spring Creek, as seen from hiking trail through the nature preserve. Author photo.

Location: Two Interurban bridge supports, made of concrete, can be seen on either side of Spring Creek, from the paving hiking trail through the Spring Creek Nature Preserve.