Long before automobiles took over El Paso, the trendiest way to move around was public transit, embodied by the colorful, hardworking streetcar. Beginning in 1881, mule-drawn streetcars were the quickest option to get a ride to Fort Bliss or neighboring Juárez on the only international streetcar system in the world. The first electric versions began operating in 1902, and by the 1920s, 103 colorful trolleys ran across 64 miles of track in El Paso serving 19 million passengers. But as buses and then cars prevailed nationwide over the mid-20th century, many cities wound down or scrapped their streetcar programs. By 1973, the last cheerful yellow streetcars closed in El Paso. Luckily, this wasn’t the end: After years of studies, the city reintroduced a refurbished and restored streetcar line in 2018, offering a reminder of what it was like before you had to bring your car keys along for the ride.
From the October 2026 issue
