Street Scene in Hamtramck, Michigan, 1921

Streetcars were a common sight in mid and large-sized American cities from the 1890s into the 1930s. Electricity, generated at a central station and delivered to trolleys through overhead wires, offered a clean and efficient power source. The automobile's rising popularity, combined with the financial strain of the Great Depression, forced many streetcar systems out of business before World War II.