 |
| The first public transportation system in Toronto was started in 1849 by Mr. H. B. Williams who built his own omnibuses in his cabinet shop on Yonge Street. These ran between the St. Lawrence Market and the Red Lion Hotel in Yorkville providing a ten-minute service up and down Yonge Street.
In 1861, the Toronto Street Railway Company obtained a 30-year franchise to operate a street railway using horse cars. The first one-horse car ran down Yonge Street from Yorkville (at Bloor Street) on September 10, 1861. On September 1, 1891, the Toronto Railway Company secured a 30-year franchise and began the operation of electric cars on August 15, 1892. The last horse car ran on McCaul Street on August 31, 1894. Horse car 42 is seen here on Spadina Avenue at Seaton Village. The cars were unheated with only pea straw spread on the floor providing a primitive insulation. The driver had no protection from the weather at all. |
