L, one of Montgomery’s streetcars in 1934, 2 years before the General Motors cartel disposed of them. Center, Parks enters the circuit courthouse to be arraigned in 1956. R, the ox-cart Parks was arrested on.
Rosa Parks made history in the US civil rights struggle in 1955.
Another crucial turning point in history was the world’s first electric tram system operating in Montgomery in 1886. It was developed by Belgian immigrant Charles Van Depoele. The young electrical engineer from Europe held over two hundred patents.
In 1936, National City Lines (NCL), one of the front companies created by General Motors to destroy electric railways across North America, got hold of the tram networks in both Montgomery and Mobile. NCL quickly ripped out Montgomery’s streetcars.
It took a bit longer to jump regulatory hoops in Mobile, but trams in that city were gone by 1940 as well.
The internal-combustion buses GM foisted on Alabama’s capital were vastly inferior to trams: they spewed toxic fumes, were noisy and the engines’ vibrations constantly shook the vehicles. But hey, they made a lot of loot for General Motors.
L, Mobile’s tram system. R, Court Square Fountain in Montgomery, built in 1885, and 3 trams.