CHICAGO — Tuesday marks the anniversary of the last time a Chicago streetcar rode on a city street.
The Illinois Railway Museum in Union hosted a "Chicago Day" on Saturday, commemorating the anniversary of the last day of streetcar operation in Chicago. The museum had a fully functioning, green-and-cream-colored streetcar, similar to the one that journeyed in Chicago on June 21, 1958.
That streetcar, according to the Tribune, was part of the Vincennes Avenue route and ended a streetcar tradition in Chicago that began on April 25, 1889.
The Encyclopedia of Chicago said the city had more than 80 miles of streetcar lines all over Chicago, making it one of the world's largest street railway systems. The streetcars carried almost 900 million riders alone in 1929.
Streetcars were a main mode of transportation in Chicago in the 1930s, according to WBEZ, but the CTA in 1948 started replacing streetcars with buses and trolley buses.
The last streetcar pulled into the 77th-Vincennes car barn 58 years ago Tuesday.
The Illinois Railway Museum has several trains and buses that could originally be found in Chicago, including "L" trains and commuter lines that served the city.
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