Gateway to Minnesota History
Minnesota Streetcar History with Aaron Isaacs
February 11, 2026 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm CST
Before automobiles, planes, and the Light Rail, there were streetcars in cities across Minnesota. They were pulled by horses until 1889, when electricity became practical. Stillwater had no horsecars because of its steep hills, but in 1889 it opened the first electric streetcar lines in the state, ahead of Minneapolis and St. Paul. A public transit boom ensued.
By World War I, Twin City Rapid Transit company was running over 1100 streetcars on a system that reached from Lake Minnetonka to the St. Croix River, including Stillwater and Bayport. It lasted until buses replaced the last of the streetcars in 1954.
Presenter Aaron Isaacs will speak about Twin Cities streetcar history, then focus on the Stillwater area. Isaacs spent 33 years as a planner and manager for Metro Transit, where he worked in route and schedule planning, operations, maintenance, transit facilities, light rail and traffic advantages for buses. He’s a historian of transit, as a 40+ year volunteer with the Minnesota Streetcar Museum. He’s co-author of Twin Cities by Trolley, The Streetcar Era in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and author of Twin Ports by Trolley on Duluth-Superior.
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