St. Louis streetcar system map, 1897 wisconsin None of Shipe's successors could

None of Shipe's successors could figure out a way to make money from transit

which built a single subway line in the 1920s

and in the end the discussions never came to anything

it would've converted the existing streetcar lines to monorail and elevated them above the streets

most of which was built pre-World War II

St. Louis streetcar system map, 1897 wisconsin None of Shipe's successors couldSt. Louis of 1897 was a Gilded Age industrial mess. The average person was working 60 hours a week for miserable wages, the city was overcrowded and polluted, the economy had been in a depression for four years, and unemployment was at 18 percent. In short, the city was a powder keg waiting to explode. These problems came to a head in 1899 when the St. Louis Transit Co. and its president, Edwards Whitaker, bought out most of the citys streetcar lines,