Electric Indiana : The Rise and Fall of the World's Greatest Interurban Railway Center, 1893-1941 / Carlos Arnaldo Schwantes.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schwantes, Carlos A., 1945- author.

Series:

Railroads past and present.

Railroads Past and Present Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Street-railroads.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (341 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Bloomington, Indiana : Indiana University Press, [2023]

Summary:

"In the early twentieth century, an epic battle was waged across America between the interurban railway and the automobile, two technologies that arose at roughly the same time in the late 1890s. Nowhere was this conflict more evident than in the Midwest, and specifically Indiana, where cities of industry such as Indianapolis, Gary, and Terre Haute were growing faster every day. By 1904, Indianapolis had opened the Traction Terminal, which was widely acclaimed to be the largest and most impressive interurban station in the world. Yet, today there is only a 90-mile remnant of this once great system still operating within Indiana. Featuring over 90 illustrations and featuring contemporary accounts and newspaper articles from the period, Electric Indiana is a biographical study of the rise and fall of a onetime important transportation technology that achieved its most impressive development within the Hoosier state"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Interurban versus Automobile

1. Memories and the Personal Discovery of Indiana's Interurban Era

2.The Promise of Electricity, The Peril of Gasoline

3. Investor's Dilemma: Interurban or Automobile?

4. Hoosier Hysteria

or, the Interurban Boom Years

5. Gas Belt Prosperity and Indiana's Interurban Pioneers

6. Hugh McGowan, Interurban Empire Builder

7. The Expansive Dozen Years

8. Growing Traffic, Going the Distance

9. Travel by Interurban

10. A Time for Sober Reflection

11. Jitney, the Emergence of a Disruptive Technology

12. Losing Traction, Rising Highway Competition

13. Deadly Delusion: The Comeback that Never Was

Conclusion: Remnants

Appendix: Who Really Coined the Word "Interurban"?

Notes

Suggested Further Reading

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Schwantes, Carlos Arnaldo Electric Indiana

ISBN:

9780253067135

0253067138

9780253067142

0253067146

OCLC:

1390921778