IA: Curious Iowa: When did a trolley line connect Mount Vernon to Cedar Rapids?

In the early 1900s, Cedar Rapids was connected to Marion, Iowa City, Waterloo and Mount Vernon via an electric streetcar system. Trolley lines once ran down the center of city streets, though you wouldn't be able to tell today.

Lin Kemp and Carolyn Stephenson, both of Cedar Rapids, remember these lines.

"I grew up after that era when many of the rails were still embedded in some city streets, however all ... have now been either removed or covered over," Kemp told The Gazette.

Stephenson told The Gazette the trolley line ran on the boundary of the acreage where she grew up, just east of Bertram.

Both readers separately wrote to Curious Iowa — a Gazette series that answers readers' questions about our state, its people and culture — wanting to know more about the line that ran between Mount Vernon and Cedar Rapids.

To find out more about this historic trolley line, we consulted historians, history books, newspaper archives and maps.

What is an electric streetcar and why did Cedar Rapids have a trolley system?

An electric streetcar or trolley is a rail vehicle that's propelled by an electric motor that gets its power from an overhead wire. Trolleys were a popular and early form of public transportation. Unlike horse-drawn streetcars, trolleys did not require feeding, grooming, and stabling horses who would leave feces and urine on the streets.

In the 1880s, the Cedar Rapids City Council gave Stephen Dows and Isaac Smith approval to establish and operate a streetcar system. Dows and Smith founded Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway and Light Company. The company has been known by many names through the years — as you'll read in this story — but it was the root of today's companies Travero and Alliant Energy.

In 1891, the first streetcars began operating in Cedar Rapids and in 1892, trolleys began taking regular trips to Marion. This provided affordable transportation for commuters and shoppers.

In 1903, a 27-mile-long trolley line was built to connect Cedar Rapids to Iowa City. The line built as a feeder for the interurban line in 1900 was the longest electric line to exist in the country at that time, according to Sutherland Dows of the Iowa Railway and Light company.

A decade later, the company extended a line to Mount Vernon after pressure from local merchants.

The year 1914 was a big one for electric streetcar travel. Regular interurban service to Mount Vernon started in January. That line was extended to Lisbon after Main Street was paved and rails were laid throughout downtown. Plus, that year the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Northern Interurban extended service to Cedar Rapids. Combined, the WCF&N and CRANDIC made up the second largest interurban route in Iowa.

What do we know about the Interurban line to Mount Vernon?

Records of the stops on the Mount Vernon line list the following: Cedar Rapids, Bever, Trachta, Indian Creek, Berry, Bertram, Palisades, Smyths, Cornellton, Mount Vernon and Lisbon.

Some of these names might sound confusing, transportation enthusiast and former Gazette Editorial Fellow Austin Wu said, because they refer to areas, not towns. Berry refers to Berry Road, for example.

"Sometimes they weren't like official stops, but sometimes there's a thing called flag stops where you could tell the conductor to stop there if you needed to," Wu added. "but if no one raised their hand, the train was just going to go past."

Mary Evans of the Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission said that the Palisades stop refers to the Upper Palisades. This was a popular stop for those looking for entertainment. The Cedar Springs Hotel was a two mile walk from there and people would dance and eat until it was time to go home. Those who drank too much could spend the night at the hotel.

According to "It Took All of Us, 100 Years of Iowa Electric Light and Power Company," the line ran from Third Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids to Blake Boulevard and then Forest Drive. From Forest Drive, it went to Sinclair Avenue SE to what is now Indian Road SE to the edge of Bever Park. Then it followed the company highline to Mount Vernon Road, crossed Mount Vernon Road near the old Rosedale School and followed the highline to Mount Vernon.

If you look at the Linn County Assessor's website, you can see sections of land marked "Old Trolley Corridor," which can provide helpful context.

The Mount Vernon line made travel simple for college students attending Cornell College, Coe College and the University of Iowa. At times, extra cars were added to accommodate those traveling to football games.

Tom Peffer, President of Linn County Trails Association, wrote in the 2020 Annual Trails Report that the trolley line and power lines ran through the towns of Broad Acres, Urbandale, and Gardendale, which "faded into history" along with Cornellton after the line was officially abandoned in 1928.

The CRANDIC's original mission was to extend its interurban line to the Mississippi River. Unfortunately, the newly built Lincoln Highway followed a similar path. The rise in automobile use led to many cities across the United States abandoning their trolley lines.

In 1927, the CR & IC Railway stopped operating its route to Mount Vernon. This came after the railway and City of Cedar Rapids had a dispute as a result of the city levying an assessment of $150K on the railway for paving improvements on Blake Boulevard.

On March 31, 1928, The Gazette reported that railway was given the authority to abandon and tear up the Lisbon interurban line from Lisbon to Cedar Rapids. In the years that followed, the interurban's tracks were either removed or covered with pitch and asphalt. The wire and poles were removed.

The entire 100-foot-wide right of way has been used and maintained by Alliant Energy as a utility corridor for power lines, but the company has abandoned the portion of the right of way that went from Mount Vernon to Lisbon.

Today, CRANDIC streetcars can be found in rail museums across the country. Last year, the Cedar Rapids City Council adopted a Downtown Vision Plan that proposes expanding modes of transportation, including a trolley system.

Will the old interurban line become a trail?

That's the goal. In 2000, Alliant Energy sold its interest in the portion of the utility corridor from Indian Road SE to 34th Street SE to the City of Cedar Rapids. This runs through Bever Park. The city intends to construct a recreational trail from Bever Park to East Post Road to Rosedale Road.

In 2017, Alliant Energy approached Linn County about purchasing the company's interest in the corridor. In 2019, an agreement was reached through which Linn County would purchase Alliant's interest in the utility corridor from Rosedale Road to the western edge of Mount Vernon, and Cedar Rapids would buy the section from 34th Street SE to Rosedale Road. Both purchases were subject to a utility maintenance easement. In 2021, Quit Claim Deeds from Alliant Energy to both the City of Cedar Rapids and Linn County were recorded.

The goal is for Linn County's section of the old trolley corridor to become a 13-mile interurban trail, connecting Coe College with Cornell College and intersecting the Sac and Fox Trail.

"The Interurban Trail will eventually connect Cedar Rapids, Bertram, and Mount Vernon, not with a trolley line, but with a safe, beautiful, graded, walking, jogging and biking recreational trail." Peffer said. "Once completed, it will fulfill the vision of those men and women who, even prior to WWI, realized the importance of connecting Cedar Rapids with Mount Vernon."

Where does the project sit today? It's awaiting funding, said Ryan Schlader of Linn County Conservation.

"The Board does envision this as a future recreational trail corridor, but it is definitely a long-term project with no specific timeline, with funding and infrastructure challenges to meet along the way," Schlader said. "Because of the proven health and economic benefits that recreational trails provide, Linn County Conservation continues to have a strong interest in furthering our network of multiuse recreational trails to increase connections between communities and existing trails and parks and within the region."

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