“Trolleys of the Great Plains - Ozarks - Rockies"

Unpublished text by Chandler and Maguire

Interurban Traction Company - Helena, Arkansas 

During the post-war reconstruction, a railroad was built into Helena from the interior of the state in 1870. A few years later the iron Mountain (later the Missouri Pacific) constructed a north-south branch along Crowley's Ridge into the town. As late as 1909, a third railroad, the Missouri & North Arkansas reached its southern terminal at Helena. This route, later called the Missouri & Arkansas Railroad, angled northwest all the way through Arkansas to reach Joplin, Missouri.

Helena originally had a streetcar service under the name of The Citizens Street Railway Co., chartered March 8, 1887. Helena's population of 3,652 in 1880 had grown to 5,890 by 1890, encouraging a street railway for its citizens. In December 1984, the streetcar operation was on 2.5 miles of track, with twelve horses and four St. Louis manufactured cars.

Helena's horse car line continued a few years after 1900 until the "Coming of the electrics". The promotion of West Helena, five miles "Over the ridge" from the original Helena, was the cause for much excitement and optimism in the period before 1910 West Helena, founded in 1909, was an industrial extension of Helena. Built around factories and mills for which the other town had no space. Workers followed the industries and retail stores followed the workers. Just as North and South Cherry Street was the principal business thoroughfare in Helena, so did the East and West Plaza Avenue become the leading boulevard in West Helena. Decades later, the Chicago Mill in West Helena, at the end of Plaza Avenue, would receive as much as 3,500,000 board ft. of lumber each month from Arkansas and Louisiana and turn this into crates and boxes for shipping market products from Arkansas. Eventually the Pekin Wood Products Mill in West Helena, owned by the Chrysler Motor Corp., would make parts and crating for automobiles.

In 1909, the existing but not yet operating, Helena Street & Interurban Railway Co. conveyed its rights to a new owner, The Interurban Railway Co. Late in 1909, this new firm began building an electric trolley line between the two communities.

West Helena, which decades later would nose out "Mother" community in population, had her operating celebration in May 1910, and the new "Electrics" were making the 5.5 mile run by that time. The trolley line was laid out through cuts, fills, twists, and turns of the ridge, and frequent passing spurs were built to expedite a close schedule. This was before streetcar dispatching and sometimes there were near collisions along the ridge, but no reported tragedies.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of passengers rode the "Electrics" every few days between Helena and West Helena, Ark. In the early 1910's, of this number, a substantial portion were black agricultural workers. These members of the community developed a special affection for the trolleys, especially during the cotton-picking season when they had money to spend. These cotton pickers were known to like their Saturday off, which they called "Tight shoe day". There was a saying that whenever they saw or heard a trolley car while toiling in the cotton fields, they would exclaim, "Toot, toot, 'ol engine. Pass me by now, but I'se gwine to ride yo Sat'day". And on Saturday, they loved to ride to "New Wes'', as they   called West Helena, on the trolley. They also believed they could bring anything aboard free and even half-grown squealing pigs were thus transported to market.

Various attractions were set up to bring notice to West Helena, such as balloon ascensions, summer theater and air shows. In 1911 an impromptu bull fight was arranged in the West Helena Baseball Park, but artificial stimulation to the bull resulted in a grand race of bull, cows, and steers, matadors, and helpers around and around the ring until someone could open the gate and mercifully set both humans and animals free.

By 1916 the West Helena Consolidated Co. had succeeded The Interurban Railway Co. as the trolley system between the two Helenas. That year Helena's population totaled 10,796 residents, a figure that was to remain rather constant through the succeeding decades. Power was being purchased from the Helena Gas & Electric Co. Repair shops were in West Helena, both company owned. There were twenty-one passenger trolleys and sixteen other vehicles in service.

This trolley schedule was maintained into the early 1920's, but by 1923, the line was in receivership. Rolling stock that year consisted of twelve passenger cars, all two-man operated, nine passenger trailers, one motor freight vehicle, and two freight trailers, attesting to the fact that farm products and general merchandise were being hauled by the streetcars. Fare Was 10 cents one way for passengers.

By 1924 the Interurban Traction Co. had been formed to take over the operations of the Helena-to-West Helena streetcars, with energy being procured from the Arkansas Utilities Co.

Dwindling passenger fares and receding freight business in the late 1920's, coupled with the succeeding throes of the great depression, proved the downfall of the once proud trolley line which had maintained a peak payroll of as many as 125 employees. Abandonment to motor buses came in 1933, the last electric trolley car runs being on August 5th. The next day Twin City Transit Co. began serving Helena and West Helena, Arkansas.