Most people assume Atlanta’s first street railway began with rails and horses.

It didn’t…It began with an idea.

Just one year after the Civil War ended, while Atlanta was still clearing away the wreckage of war, a handful of visionary citizens convinced the Georgia legislature to charter a street railway company. It was a bold idea for a city that was still rebuilding itself.

But then again, nothing happened.

For five years, Atlanta’s first street railway existed only on paper, waiting for someone who could finally turn an ambitious vision into reality.

This week on Stories of Atlanta, discover how a dormant corporate charter, two ambitious businessmen, and one remarkably forward-thinking idea forever changed the way Atlanta would grow. Sometimes history isn’t changed by a better idea. Sometimes it’s changed when the right idea finds the right people.

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