The Lightning Route Sparked America’s Transportation Revolution
Picture this: while most American cities were still lighting their streets with gas lamps and horse-drawn carriages clattered over cobblestones, one Alabama city was already humming with electric power. Montgomery became the first U.S. city to initiate an electric streetcar system on April 15, 1886, with the Capital City Street Railway, also known as the Lightning Route. This wasn’t just ahead of its time—it was revolutionary. By the 1920s most cities and towns in America received electricity from either privately owned or municipal utility companies, making Montgomery’s electric…..