The Metropolitan Street Railroad was an early streetcar company in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. The horsecar line was organized in 1882 by

Lemuel Grant Lemuel Pratt Grant (1817–1893) was an American engineer and businessman. He was Atlanta's quintessential railroad man as well as a major landowner and civic leader. In railroads he served as a laborer, chief engineer, speculator and executi ...

, Jesse W. Rankin, William L. Abbott, William A. Haygood, and Jacob Haas. The goal was to serve the southeast side of town. It operated two lines: * Pryor Street Line – south from

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

on Pryor to Garnett St, to Pulliam St to Clark St, to Washington St, terminating at Crumley Street in the Washington-Rawson neighborhood, now demolished. Later extended out Washington to Georgia Avenue (the north east corner of today's

Turner Field Turner Field was a baseball stadium located in Atlanta, Georgia. From 1997 to 2016, it served as the home ballpark to the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally built as Centennial Olympic Stadium in 1996 to serve as the c ...

) and then east to Grant Park. *Park Line – south on Pryor to Hunter St (MLK), to Fraser St to Fair St (Memorial Dr), thence east past Oakland Cemetery to the newly laid out Park Ave then south to Grant Park. The original company did not do well financially and was sold in 1888 to Aaron Haas and W.H. Patterson. They laid new rail along all routes and began running dummies (steam driven engines). Their stables and car-house were on the southeast corner of Fair (now Memorial) and Park Ave, the current location of the Oakland Park loft

After passing through receivership, all was purchased by the Atlanta Consolidated Street Railway in 1892.

References

''Atlanta and Environs: A Chronicle of Its People and Events, 1880s-1930s'' by Franklin M. Garrett

References

See also