As workers for the new Blue Line (a bus route) work on infrastructure along Washington Street in 2026, they are likely finding remnants of prior transportation systems including the rail lines for electric streetcars. Their tenure in the city lasted for sixty-two years and ended in 1953 in favor of city buses. For decades east side residents could catch a streetcar as far east as Sheridan Avenue and head downtown. Many people who worked in downtown offices rode cars in the morning and in the evening. Trains were also available on the weekends. As more people purchased automobiles after World War II, fewer people rode the streetcars.
In the photo below, an electric streetcar passed in front of the beautiful home located at 6202 East Washington Street in the Irvington Terrace neighborhood. You can also see some of the businesses in the 6100 block. The car went as far as Sheridan Avenue before it turned around and went back to downtown Indianapolis. Several cars came to Irvington throughout the day.
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| The Washington Street-Sheridan Avenue Streetcar passed by 6202 East Washington Street in the Irvington Terrace neighborhood most likely in the 1940s when this photo was snapped by the Indianapolis Railways Co. If you look closely on the front of the streetcar you will see an ad for CV (Champaign Velvet) Beer brewed in Terre Haute, Indiana. (Irvington Historical Society) |
Sources: Last electric streetcar: "A Streetcar named Expire," Indianapolis News, January 10, 1953, page 11; Charles Johnson Taggart, "Streetcars," Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, Revised March 2021 (online) I wish to thank Don Flick for his research on CV Beer.
