Were there streetcars on Broadway in Alexandria, MN?
Have you ever heard about the street car service that ran in Alexandria, MN?
If you have… You’ve been fooled by a joke more than a hundred years in the making!
A street car service never actually ran in Alexandria, MN – but ca. 1915, the city’s population was growing and the town was developing very quickly. The image was sold as a humorous postcard because Alexandria was becoming the ‘metropolis’ of rural Douglas County. The implication of a street car service operating on Broadway Street was a tongue-in-cheek way of acknowledging the town’s growth. Postcards of this nature are often called “tall tale” or “exaggeration” cards.
The ‘background’ of this photo is the intersection of 7th Ave and Broadway, looking north. The street car in this image was spliced in by the creator, possibly W. O. Olson.
An antique photograph of the brick-building lined, packed dirt main street (called Broadway) of Alexandria, MN in the 1910s. A street car, which has been spliced into the photo by the original photographer, is apparently moving towards the photographer.
[Image Description: An antique photograph of the brick-building lined, packed dirt main street (called Broadway) of Alexandria, MN in the 1910s. A street car, which has been spliced into the photo by the original photographer, is apparently moving towards the photographer.]
