Clang, clang, clang.

One hundred years ago, near the start of the electric traction of Natchez ushered in the 20th century in style. In 1902, the old mule-drawn streetcars that had poked along the city's streets for decades were totally upgraded to an all-electrical system. With what grew to be 16 new electrified cars, known as trolleys, the Natchez Electric Street Railway and Power Co. charged into action. Over the next few years, 13 trolley lines operated the latest models of polished mahogany and gleaming brass cars in Mississippi cities. With its historic British-like quaintness, its stunning architectural beauty, and its always busy town center, Natchez was tailor-made for the new horseless transportation.

Natchez has always been able to upstage most cities because of its grand Mississippi River entrance. In the city's early days, most visitors came not by road or rail hut by boat. Seeing the city from the water, even today, is an impressive sight, and it must have been doubly so a century ago. To step off the gangplank onto Silver Street was an adventure unto itself, but to be able to ride to the top of the bluff and then onto Main Street in a shiny new trolley was smart indeed. And for those who rode back down the steep incline of what is still the city's most famous street, the feeling was certainly nothing short of exhilarating.

It didn't take long for the familiar double-green trolley to become part of the fabric of everyday Natchez life. Men rode them to work. Women rode them to shop or visit friends. Families delighted in riding them to church together on Sunday mornings. After church, Sunday afternoon picnics became a tradition as families, Sunday school classes, or groups of friends rode the trolley out Union Street to Concord Park, where they made memories that were to last a lifetime. Some children rode the trolley to school, and those who didn't wished they could. Then, of course, there were some who rode just for the fun of it. Young people were absolutely magnetized by the tooting of the whistles and the clang, clang, clanging of the brass bell. Riders of all ages were quick to develop an affinity for certain cars that seemed to have their own personalities--some swayed from side to side, while others rocked back and forth as they moved along at speeds of up to 10 miles per hour.

After only five years of favorable operation, the trolleys attracted new investors, and in 1907, the new owners changed the name of the line to the Southern Light and Traction Co. By this time, the double-green cars were so established that most citizens could time the events of their domestic lives by the trolley's regularity. The screech of a wheel, the toot of a whistle, or the clang of a bell alerted the trained ear of the trolley rider to hurry to a familiar stop.

According to a 1983 publication entitled Travelling by Trolley in Mississippi by Frank A. Brooks, Jr., who is without doubt the most knowledgeable trolley car historian in the state, a verbal map of the old Natchez trolley car system is as follows: "One of its routes started at the ferry landing on the Mississippi River and progressed up Silver Street to Broadway, along Broadway to Main Street, and then up Main to Pearl Street. A second line traveled to the end of St. Catherine Street. On this line, returning cars turned from St. Catherine onto Pine Street for a block, thence on Franklin to Pearl for another block to Main Street. The cars then turned east on Main Street for the short distance to Union Street." Brooks also noted that "passing tracks were located on both Union and Pearl Streets."

The popularity of the trolley line peaked just prior to World War 1, when new owners again changed the name to the Southern Railway and Light Co. in 1914. However, the once-loved open-air cars, which provided shade and a cool breeze in the summer and in winter afforded the passenger some degree of comfort away from the cold and rain, could not compete with the new freedoms being offered by the automobile. With a big percentage of its riders now driving their own cars, the largely abandoned trolleys of Natchez came to a halt in 1920. Other trolley car lines throughout the state soon closed their doors as well. The same happened all over the United States; in fact, there are only 12 cities in the country today that still have trolleys operating: New Orleans; San Francisco; Memphis; Dallas/Fort Worth; Seattle; Portland; Tampa; Detroit; San Jose, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Kenosha, Wisconsin.

In 1992, Natchez city officials sought to recapture a lost portion of the city's heritage by applying for and receiving two grants totaling $523,900 to buy and operate two motorized (diesel) trolley cars. The cars are used as a shuttle system today during scheduled periods to ferry riverboat guests from "Natchez Under-the-Hill" up Silver Street to Main Street and then back down to the river again. The modern trolleys may be as efficient as the old ones were, but it's not the same. The old "Toonerville"-type trolleys provided, in the words of one old-timer, "an experience virtually impossible to duplicate today."

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Mississippi Cities in Which Trolley Car Lines Operated

Biloxi Columbus Greenville Gulfport/Mississippi City/ Long Beach/Pass Christian Hattiesburg Jackson Lakeview * Laurel/Ellisville Meridian Mississippi City Moss Point/Pascagoula Natchez Vicksburg Yazoo City

* The city of Memphis operated one trolley car into this small DeSoto County community lot a few years before 1910.