Bartlesville Road Crews Uncover 105-Year-Old Trolley Tracks

Some construction workers doing street repair work in Bartlesville uncovered some 100-year-old trolley tracks. Some of that uncovered history will be removed from the ground this week. 

The City of Bartlesville said a stretch of road along Delaware Avenue already needed repairs, and city workers knew there would be old trolley tracks underground. Now, the city museum plans to put part of the past on display. 

Just across the street from Central Middle School, bricks and rail tracks from another time are now exposed to the 21st Century.  

Bartlesville's old trolley, known as the "Interurban Railroad,” used to run through the intersection of 9th and Delaware.  

"A lot of people think that our track system went and connected with the Nowata rail. We did not,” Bartlesville Area History Museum Collections Manager Debbie Neece said.  

She says the trolley started running in 1908 and ran for 12 years.  

"We used to have some really big money here, then it faded away,” Neece said. “But they decided they needed a railway system to get people from point A to point B."  

A map outlines the trolley's 10-mile route, which included a neighborhood.  

"So you can see where there's tracks throughout the town, then it went across the bridge at 4th street and went out to Dewey,” Neece said.  

Some of what's been uncovered will sit in storage for future projects. There are already plans to make an exhibit at the museum, which should be done in about a year.  

The road work is being paid for through a bond passed by voters three years ago. The city said drivers can expect this intersection to be back to normal by the beginning of next year.