Appleyard's Dream

Preconditions.

Prior to Appleyard’s arrival, certain preconditions existed in the Chippewa Valley twelve miles south of Chippewa Falls in the city of Eau Claire. In 1879, the Eau Claire Street Railway Company (E.C.S.R.C.) began laying tracks throughout the city.1 With no ulterior means of locomotion, horses were used to propel the streetcars instead. Talk about electrifying the streetcars began as early as 1887,2 but the first self-propelled, electric streetcar would not arrive in Eau Claire until 1889.3

By the time Appleyard arrived in Eau Claire in 1897, an electric railway already existed. The possibility and potential of an interurban line fueled his imagination which constructed a vision for the Chippewa Valley. To see his vision through, he turned his eye to Chippewa Falls.

Designing a Dream.

Appleyard’s dream was one of connectedness—a dream to connect the cities in and around the Chippewa Valley through a massive interurban electric railway network. Making this interurban railway would fill a need of people to travel and explore their world. This, in turn, would provide a sense of community among the many different cities of the area. This done, the railway would become a vital means toward maintaining that connectedness and sense of community.

Appleyard began his work immediately. He had experience with building massive interurban railway networks that flourished in the Ohio River valley, making him “[t]he third major builder of interurbans in Ohio.”4 Appleyard quickly put these past experiences to good use. First, he purchased and reorganized the Eau Claire Street Railway Company in 18975—the third street railway constructed in the state of Wisconsin.6 He promptly convinced owners of the local utilities (Chippewa Falls Waterworks and Light Company) in Chippewa Falls—only 12 miles from Eau Claire—to create an electric street railway system of their own. On the 29th of March, 1898,7 the Chippewa Valley Electric Railway Company (C.V.E.R.C.) was created.8 Construction quickly commenced and tracks were laid through downtown Chippewa Falls. The most valuable part of Appleyard’s dream—the interurban line between Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire—was constructed and connected with the rail system of the Eau Claire Street Railway Company [map of interurban line]. Appleyard then sold the Eau Claire Street Railway Company to the newly formed interurban electric railway. Doing so made him the leading stockholder in the C.V.E.R.C.

Already, the towns of Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire, and Hallie (a small community located directly between the two larger cities) were linked together by the electric railway. Appleyard’s dream was off to a good start.

Chippewa Falls Awakens to the Railway.

The city of Chippewa Falls had never experienced a technology like this. The electric railway was welcomed into the community of Chippewa Falls. Speedy public transportation was not all the electric railway had to offer. The railway company also brought with it an hourly schedule, jobs, and an opening of other resources around the Chippewa Valley. The main resources were tourism and recreation which flourished with the opening of Midway Park—later to be known as Electric Park—at Lake Hallie, near the town of Hallie. The streetcars themselves were bedecked in the newest technologies including electric lighting and heating along, of course, with the electric motor. The streetcars of Chippewa Falls’ electric railway was a far cry from the old, cold, horse-drawn streetcars of the Eau Claire Street Railway Company’s older days.

Where the Tracks End?

It was only seven years into the railway’s life as Chippewa Falls’ chief mode of transportation that its original designer and planner left the area. Arthur E. Appleyard had seen his dream thus far, but the traffic of the railways did not promote a need for further expansion. The need for the railway was not as strong as he anticipated; people used the urban railway for many things including getting to and from work, getting to and from school, and running errands. The interurban, on the other hand, was used almost solely for recreation. So soon, his dream of a connected Chippewa Valley was dying.