Seattle's first streetcar, Sept. 20, 1884.
Photo courtesy Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI).

From the first successful steam ferry launches of the "Mosquito Fleet", Seattle's first street car in 1884, the creation of Seattle Transit and eventually King County Metro Transit, our mass transit history milestones are listed here. Just click on a decade below to read about them.

1850 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

• You can read more at historylink.org
• Would you like to take a trip back in time? The Metro Employees Historic Vehical Association (MEHVA) is dedicated to the preservation of Seattle and King County's transit heritage through the restoration and operation of vintage transit vehicles as a working, living museum. They offer Trackless Trolley Excursions and Motor Bus Excursions during the year. There is also more information and historical photos of electric trolley buses in Seattle. Visit MEHVA's web site for more information.
• Read Better than Promised: An informal history of Metropolitan Seattle, by Bob Lane, 1995.

SOURCES:
» Routes: An Interpretive History of Public Transportation in Greater Seattle, Walt Crowley, Metro Transit, 1993;
» historylink.org, through November 2002;
» King County Department of Transportation website and news release archives through November 2002, King Street Center, Seattle;
» METRO annual reports to bondholders, 1980 through 1991;
» Bus Roots: the Ten Years of Metro Transit 1973-1983, Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle, 1984;
» "Suburban Service From Seattle," Motor Coach Age, June 1968;
» Obituary for Elwood Arneson, Seattle Times, March 3, 2002;
» "Mobility and Preservation of Wallingford's Vernacular Landscape," Sharon V. Scherer, University of Washington;