This mule car, photographed in 1870 between Twelfth and Thirteenth on Grand, was one of the city's first street cars. Passengers sat on long seats facing the center aisle. The driver, who also collected fares, fed and watered his animal at a trough near City market. The Kansas City & Westport line in 1869 began operation horse cars from Fourth and Main to Eighteenth and Grand. By 1871 the tracks reached Thirty-ninth and Main, where at turntable reversed direction for the return trip. A surplus of $7,500 from state funds appropriated for the Westport line was used to construct the library at Westport road and Wyandotte. First named for Arthur M. Allen, its chief promoter, it later became the Westport branch of the Kansas City Public library. Kansas City Times, September 28, 1968.
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