Historic Landmarks of San Francisco

Andrew Smith Hallidie, born on March 16, 1836, in London, started his career as a prospector and became successful as a manufacturer of modal cable used in mining. He got the idea for the cable car in 1869, after observing an accident in which two horses were fatally injured while trying to pull a loaded trolley up a steep, slippery San Francisco hill. It occurred to him that streetcars might be propelled by means of a moving underground cable. Hallidie, along with Joseph Britton, Henry L. Davis, and James Moffitt, organized the Clay Street Hill Railroad Company in 1872.

Track was laid on Clay Street from Kearny Street a little over a mile to the corner of Leavenworth Street, where the powerhouse was to be located. Thus travellers could travel from Portsmouth Square up one of the City's steepest grades to the top of Nob Hill.

The first successful run took place on the foggy morning of August 1, 1873, with Hallidie himself at the grip. Regular service on the world's first cable car line began in September. Fare was a nickel and net earnings were $3,000 per month. The enterprise was a success. The last run on the City Street line took place February 15, 1942, after which the track was removed. San Francisco's three surviving cable car lines are a Registered National Historic Landmark.

A bronze state plaque, memorializing the railroad and its founder, is located in the southeast corner of Portsmouth Square near the intersection of Kearny and Clay Streets, the eastern terminus of the line. The undated plaque, placed by the California State Park Commission, is mounted on a base furnished by the Friends of A.S. Hallidie. The cable car pictured on the marker may be seen on display at the cable car museum, Mason and Washington Streets. It is typical of the cars used on the Clay Street Hill Railroad.