The 115-Year History of Streetcars on Market Street By Jeremy Menzies With the F Market & Wharves returning to service on May 15th, here’s a brief look back through the past 115 years of streetcar service along Market Street, our most traveled thoroughfare. May 2, 1906 was the first day that an electric streetcar ran on Market Street. After the earthquake and fires on April 18, 1906, San Francisco was eager to rebuild, and public transit played a crucial role in getting the city back on its feet. Prior to electric streetcars, transit on Market was dominated by cable cars, which ran from the Ferry Building to the Pacific Ocean, but were considered slow and inefficient compared to the newer electric streetcar technology. With the introduction of electric cars on Market Street, people had a faster way to get to downtown businesses and rebuild from the ashes of the disaster. This photo documents the first streetcar to run on Market Street, just two weeks after the devastating Apr...