GC1GZ1X Interurban - Edmond Line (Traditional Cache) in Oklahoma, United States created by Okiebryan

This cache has been archived.

Chuck Walla: Hello Okiebryan,

Geocaching HQ flagged this cache as one that may need attention and sent you an email about it. Some time after that, I disabled your cache and requested that you check on your cache and perform any necessary maintenance. Since you have not responded to my reviewer log about your cache by posting a note to your cache page to tell me and others of your intention to address the issue with it, the cache has been archived at the direction of Geocaching HQ.

Sincerely,

Chuck Walla
Community Volunteer Reviewer
Geocaching.com

GC1GZ1X ▼

A cache by Okiebryan Message this owner

Hidden : 10/5/2008

Difficulty:

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Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

You are looking for a waterproof match container, well hidden and painted to blend in with its surroundings. Bring yer own writin' stick!

Congratulations to SweetT47, Miketreenut, Calmity Kane, and Maxwell Q for the group effort FTF!

This location is on the Belle Isle-Britton-Edmond line of the Oklahoma Railway Company network of electric streetcars, which came to be known as "The Interurban". Very little original evidence remains of the streetcar line that enabled (if not caused) the expansion of Oklahoma City from the relatively tiny 4 square mile area it occupied in the first years of the 20th century.

Anton Classen on the left, John Shartel on the right.

Anton Classen and John Shartel were both Oklahoma Pioneers who made the land run in 1889 and settled in Guthrie. Around 1897, both men relocated to Oklahoma City and entered the land development business. These two men worked together with Charlie Colcord to begin a streetcar system. They secured a franchise from the City in January of 1902, and began laying track under the name "Metropolitan Street Railway Company".

The electric powered cars made their first runs on February 2nd, 1903, beginning service that would continue for more than 40 years. Each morning at 5:45, individually powered cars-complete with seats and heaters-would begin their day and run until midnight.

The company - reorganized in 1904 as the "Oklahoma Railway Company" - radically altered the development of Oklahoma City and influenced the quality of life of its residents. One result was access to Wheeler Park and Delmar Gardens for 5 cents a ride. Both parks were located along the North Canadian River, and became very popular.

The Oklahoma Railway Company was also important in attracting Epworth College (Oklahoma City University) and to develop more than a dozen new residential additions. Starting in 1907, the same line that served the University Park area took riders to Belle Isle Park, which was owned by the Oklahoma Railroad Company. In order to meet the needs of the new company-built Belle Isle Power Plant, the company constructed a lake from a natural spring that is still flowing today, then added the park as a magnet for passenger traffic on the Classen Boulevard line.

Belle Isle around 1910. The ORC-owned power plant in the background was completed in 1908.

A postcard drawing of Belle Island Park. The lake is now gone and has shopping centers in its place.

In 1908, the ORC extended the line to Britton and Edmond. Before the interurban reached Britton, it was a failed attempt at a town consisting of only a combination general store-post office, two homes, and a derailed boxcar that served as a makeshift train depot. Suddenly, residents of Britton could commute to Oklahoma City to work, and developers opened eight new housing additions. By the end of 1909, Britton had grown to a town of 700 people, with a commercial district boasting 32 business establishments.

After World War II, the population and its new-found prosperity fell in love with the automobile, and streetcars fell into disfavor. In 1947, the Interurban ceased operations, and eventually the tracks and most of the evidence of this important chapter in Oklahoma City History was removed.

The route of this line is easy to follow. Classen Boulevard was laid on either side of the tracks for most of the distance of this line, and where Classen ends, a power line follows the old right of way. North of Hefner Road, Broadway Extension curves to the northeast and follows the interurban route until the curve back to the north near 33rd street in Edmond. The old line then intersects with Boulevard, which it followed all the way out of town when the line was extended to Guthrie in 1913 after the purchase of the Guthrie Railway Company.

Near the location of the cache, notice the cold joints in the concrete and the square twisted reinforcing bars which are visible in certain places in the deteriorating concrete. Concrete construction methods have certainly changed over the last century!

Images courtesy of Oklahoma County Metropolitan Library System

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Interurban - Edmond Line Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

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