DEVELOPMENT OF STREET RAILWAYS 
This entire district is at present served by the lines of the 
Boston Elevated Railway Company, and a small portion is 
also reached by lines of other companies. 
That the street railway lines operating within this district had 
also grown rapidly is demonstrated by the following table show- 
ing the approximate length of track operated during this time: 
Miles. Miles, 
1860, . . 273 1885, . . .“ 1225 
1870, > . 792 1890, . . . 266 
18850, 5 „67 1595, ; „ 1287 
As soon as it was conclusively proven that electricity fur- 
nished a practicable and cheap method of providing power for 
street railways its substitution for horse power in the Boston 
district proceeded rapidly, as the following table, giving the 
length of track operated by horses and by electricity each year 
from its introduction up to the present time, shows : 
Yan "fles)? (Mies). (Mies). 
1889 31.9 232.0 263.9 
1890 79.3 186.0 265.3 
1891 93.0 177.0 270.0 
1892 163.6 110.0 273.6 
1893 205.1 73.0 278.1 
1894 211.7 63.0 274.7 
1895 253.5 34-0 287.5 
1896 288.0 11.0 299.0 
1897 302.3 10.2 312.5 
1808 303.7 10.1 313.8 
While this development of street car transportation in Boston 
and the group of cities and towns immediately surrounding it 
had been going on, other cities of the state had also felt its 
need, and during the years between 1860 and 1870 companies 
were organized in Lowell, Fall River, Springfield, Northamp- 
x