Riverside City History
Interurban Railroad

In 1913, the Riverside area was key in the Interurban Railroad route - an electric, high-speed trolley that connected Kansas City, North Kansas City, Riverside, St. Joseph, Liberty and Excelsior Springs. Its speed and luxury would make today's light rail proponents jealous.

For more than 20 years, the Interurban was a virtual miracle of transportation. In the early 1900s, the Northland suffered from bad roads. The result was slow deliveries and no way to reach good jobs in Kansas City on a daily basis. A few enterprising people realized the need for an Interurban railway that could tie the Northland to St. Joseph and Excelsior Springs.

In 1913 the Kansas City, Clay County and St. Joseph Railway Company (K.C.C.C. St.J.) was formed under a 200-year charter. The Interurban was no ordinary electric railway. It was billed as the "World's Fastest Interurban" and offered elegant steel cars with plush green seats The wide, arched windows were decorated overhead with cathedral panels and backlit with tungsten lamps. With a top speed of more than 70 mph, even cynics might be led to reconsider their position on "light rail." The completion of the Interurban also opened a faster and easier way to transport dairy and freight products. Two lines split out of North Kansas City with one going through Liberty to Excelsior Springs and the other through Riverside to St. Joseph. The St. Joseph mainline was almost a straight route that provided several stations along the way - including two in Riverside.

An Interurban rider could board at 7th and Walnut in downtown Kansas City and ride to St. Joseph for $1.55. One riverside station was full time, and the other only used during races at Riverside Park horse racing track. The regular station was the two-story Brenner station located on the hillside across from the old Post Office and was owned by Albert Brenner. The other station consisted of a 20-foot canopy next to the railway at the present location of Northside Mobil Homes. This loading platform was close to the racetrack and was only used during the years that Riverside Park operated. Since it wasn't a regular station, passengers would light matches and hold them up so the Interurban would know to stop.

The track lay close to the bluff around Indian Hills, across the Interurban bridge, then ran beside AA Highway through Northmoor and on north. During its best year, in 1923, the Interurban receipts totaled one million dollars. Six years later this dropped to $120,000. The sagging economy and financial problems saw the Interurban make its last trip in 1933 and close. In debt, The K.C.C.C.& St.J. railway abandoned its tracks and bordering landowners reclaimed much of their land. Tracks and ties were later removed, some in the 1940s for war materials. The Interurban didn't disappear completely. An early Riverside motel was constructed using "recycled" Interurban cars. Today, the only visible evidence is the large double arched concrete bridge at the end of St. Joe Boulevard and a faint trail along the south side of Indian Hills.

NEXT»