IRT -- NEW YORK CITY'S FIRST SUBWAY

In October 1904, New York City opened its first subway, the Lexington Avenue IRT line. It was the nation's first subway to operate with trains of cars (Boston's is older but ran only single-car streetcars). Before that 1904 opening, New York had been trying for some 40 years (since just after the Civil War) to build a subway to relieve the heavy congestion of horse-drawn traffic. Here are highlights of its background, including a heavy emphasis on the socioeconomic reasons for its finally coming into existence. A sidebar article deals with the three men most influential in making the first subway possible; they are Abram S. Hewitt (the politician), William Barclay Parsons (the engineer) and August Belmont, Jr. (the financier).

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/10480594
• Corporate Authors:

  American Society of Civil Engineers

  345 East 47th Street
  New York, NY  United States  10017-2398
• Authors:
  • Lankton, L D
• Publication Date: 1979-11

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 71-75
• Serial:
  • Civil Engineering
  • Volume: 49
  • Issue Number: 11
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0885-7024
  • Serial URL: http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/newce/html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Construction; History; Rapid transit; Socioeconomic factors; Subways; Transportation; Tunneling
• Identifier Terms: New York City Transit Authority
• Geographic Terms: New York (State)
• Old TRIS Terms: Subway construction; Tunnels and tunneling
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Economics; History; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00310002
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 21 1980 12:00AM