Streetcar Waiting Stations

E. 4th St. and Queens Rd., Charlotte
Hermitage Rd. and Queens Rd., Charlotte

Streetcar waiting stations are, as the name suggests, stops along the former streetcar line. Edison Electric Company Inc. granted a $40,000 contract to the Charlotte Consolidated Construction Company, or Four Cs, to build an electric streetcar system in 1887.

The first streetcar traveled from Independence Square [1] at the corner of Trade and Tryon Streets in Uptown. The original trolley system had two lines that ran from Uptown to the “streetcar suburbs” of Elizabeth, Dilworth, and Plaza Midwood.

As Myers Park developed, a streetcar line into the neighborhood was constructed. It was completed in 1912 and entered the neighborhood of East 4th Street and Queens Road, where the first waiting station was built. The second station was completed shortly thereafter.

Streetcar service terminated on March 12, 1938, but the waiting stations were left intact. The streetcar waiting stations have been preserved as points of architectural interest, marking the now-urban neighborhoods that were once viewed as suburbs.

Without the streetcar lines, several of the most prominent neighborhoods in Charlotte [2]—often referred to as the streetcar suburbs—might never have been developed.