Skip to main content

Please note The Museum of the Reconstruction Era will be closed for house tours Wednesday, Feb. 1 - Friday, Feb. 3 due to garden renovations.

Menu Close Menu

Historic Columbia

Donate
  • FAQs
Upcoming Events

Navigation

  • Tours
    • House Tours
      • Robert Mills House and Gardens
      • Hampton-Preston Mansion and Gardens
      • Mann-Simons Site
      • The Museum of the Reconstruction Era
      • Modjeska Monteith Simkins House
      • Hours and Pricing
    • Garden Tours
      • Garden Database
    • Offsite Tours
      • Walking Tours
    • African American History Tours
    • Online Tours
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • House Tours
    • Adult Education
  • Preservation
    • Current Projects and Initiatives
      • Bull Street Campus 
      • Columbia's Green Book Sites
      • Veterans Administration Regional Office
      • Women’s Club of Columbia
    • Preservation Awards
    • Resources for the Public
      • For Property Owners
      • For Neighborhoods
      • Take Action!
    • LGBTQ Columbia
  • Support
    • Corporate Support
    • Donate
    • Membership
    • Volunteer
    • Partners and Donors
  • Rent a Venue
    • Gardens of the Woodrow Wilson Family Home
    • Seibels House and Garden
    • Robert Mills Carriage House and Gardens
    • Gardens of the Hampton-Preston Mansion
    • Recommended Vendors
    • Contact Us
  • About
    • Blog
    • Board Members
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Gift Shop at Robert Mills
      • Online Store
    • Local History
      • Columbia Jewish Heritage Initiative
    • Newsletter
    • Staff Directory

Donate

  1. Home
  2. Online Tours
  3. Old Shandon
  4. Intersection of Devine and Maple Streets

Intersection of Devine and Maple Streets

754 Maple Street

Streetcar Line

Mass transit for Columbians came about in 1886 with the advent of mule- (and later horse-) drawn streetcars along Main Street and Elmwood Avenue, a service superseded in 1893 by electrified cars. By 1898, the Columbia Electric Street and Suburban Railway and Electric Power Company had extended its tracks southeast on Devine Street and north on Maple Street to Millwood Avenue. For five cents, passengers could ride one of six trolley cars accessing Shandon every hour. Affordable and convenient, streetcars were many Shandonites' primary mode of transportation. In 1927, the city's streetcar service was terminated as buses and private cars had outpaced their competitor.The increasing prosperity of many of Shandon's middle-class families during the 1920s coincided with the rise of personally owned automobiles. This trend resulted in the conversion of barns originally housing horses and carriages into garages, and, in some cases, led to the construction of free-standing garages located to the rear of houses.

  • streetcar maple and devine

    Electric streetcar on the corner of Woodrow and Devine Streets, circa 1905. Historic Columbia collection

  • Pictured here are Braxton Bragg "B.B" Davis and his wife Ada of 2726 Preston Street posing beside their car

    Pictured here are Braxton Bragg "B.B" Davis and his wife Ada of 2726 Preston Street posing beside their car. Image courtesy Betty Jean Rhyne

Shirley Black Brown remembers catching the street car.

Directions:

    Previous815 Woodrow Street

    NextIntersection of Devine and Maple Streets

    Newsletter Signup

    newsletter signup

    Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for events, news, and updates from Historic Columbia!

    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Flickr
    Historic Columbia

    © 2023 Historic Columbia

    Administrative Offices
    1601 Richland Street
    Columbia, SC 29201

    Tours
    All historic house and garden tours start at the Gift Shop at Robert Mills.
    1616 Blanding Street
    Columbia, SC 29201

    Questions? Call (803) 252-7742.

    Website by Cyberwoven