Brooklyn Trolleys
Trolley service in Brooklyn began in July 1854 in the form of horse-drawn cars, with the first line opening on Myrtle Avenue. Railroad companies continued to open additional lines and types of public transit, including cable cars (briefly) and elevated train lines (“el”) and by the end of the 19th century the borough had many lines crisscrossing its neighborhoods.
Streetcars (electrified) running on solid lines were introduced to Brooklyn residents in 1891, and by 1895 almost all horsecar lines had been converted to the electrified streetcars. “At the turn of the twentieth century, Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company—a locally-owned syndicate of steam, elevated, and trolley businesses—operated more than 125 streetcar and elevated lines along 600 miles of track in Brooklyn and Queens.” BRIAN MERLIS Collection/oldNYCphotos.com
Trolley service ended on Flatbush Avenue on March 5, 1951, and on Nostrand Avenue on April 1, 1951. Only eight trolley lines remained in service after those on Nostrand were replaced by busses. The last trolley service in Brooklyn ended on October 31, 1956 with the cessation of service on MacDonald Avenue.
Source: Ami Fields-Meyer, “A History of Streetcars in Brooklyn.” http://www.bqx.nyc/connector/2017/04/25/a-history-of-streetcars-in-brooklyn/
Photo courtesy Lee Rosenzweig