Guthrie Railway

Guthrie, while founded as just a station stop along a Santa Fe Railway predecessor in 1887, became a full-blown town in 1889 immediately after the Oklahoma Land Run, and was selected as Territorial Capital of the Oklahoma Territory in 1890, a title it would hold until it became the capital of the newly-formed State of Oklahoma from 1907 to 1910.^[1] Regarding its transportation needs, the original franchise for trolley service within Guthrie was awarded to Oklahoma Traction Company, a predecessor of the Oklahoma City-based Oklahoma Railway Company (“ORC”) around 1903.^[2] The Guthrie Railway was separately organized in 1905, obtained the franchise, built its trackage, and made its first run on May 26, 1905.^[3] The electrified system at that point was about 6.5 miles, operated with 9 cars.^[3] The mileage varied over time, with the total near the end of 1908 being 7.65 miles,^[4] and the total near the end of 1910 being 7.50 miles.^[5]

With Guthrie's capital days behind it with the selection of Oklahoma City—which was six times larger—as state capital in 1910, land values in the city sank by 80%.^[6] In that environment, all of the outstanding bonds of the Guthrie Railway were purchased by ORC in 1913, and Guthrie Railway came under common control with ORC at that time; however, the two remained separate companies.^[2] This remained true in 1916 when ORC ran a 16-mile line from Edmund into Guthrie,^[7] completing a 31-mile trolley route between Oklahoma City and Guthrie.^[3] ORC utilized a small part of Guthrie Railway's rails and its trolley station a few years for that service, but did end up building its own station and discontinuing any usage of Guthrie Railway tracks.^[2] The ownership situation became more confusing in 1920 when Guthrie Railway leased cars from ORC showing the “Oklahoma Railway” name, but with no merger or takeover occurring between the companies.^[2] The Guthrie Railway ran until 1927, at which time the system was abandoned, with the power poles, wires and tracks on unpaved streets being removed.^[2] However, tracks on paved street were left in place and became in later years the subject of a lawsuit by the City of Guthrie against ORC for removal, said case being unsuccessful as the court confirmed the defunct Guthrie Railway was a separate company from ORC.^[2]

ORC for its part did not abandon its trolley route into Guthrie for about two more decades, with the last trolley running on November 9, 1946.^[3]