Carl Baehr
City Streets

Runaway Horses Plagued Vliet Street

Killing and injuring many in the 19th century. Then the streetcar arrived.

By - Jan 24th, 2017 01:20 pm

Killing and injuring many in the 19th century. Then the streetcar arrived. Back to the full article.

Photos - Page 2

Categories: City Streets, History

5 thoughts on “City Streets: Runaway Horses Plagued Vliet Street”

  1. Dan says:

    Carl, I enjoyed reading this article and didn’t realize there were so many runaway horses. A correction, a streetcar motorman was called a motorman (motormen, plural). An engineer operated freight and passenger trains.
    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/motorman
    https://books.google.com/books?id=yeFEAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA22&lpg=RA1-PA22&dq=milwaukee+motorman&source=bl&ots=w1zILYa3YN&sig=LnmUJ5nlS00S4dx71CqVexESW9w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiIvNrfwN3RAhVLTCYKHbWCDz4Q6AEIIDAB#v=onepage&q=milwaukee%20motorman&f=false

  2. Mama says:

    I’ve also read that the street is actually supposed to be pronounced “vlee-ay” but everyone in this town pronounces it “vuh-leet” instead. Any idea which is correct?

  3. Carl says:

    @Dan, I think motorman sounds better than engineer but that was the word used in the articles I read. Thanks.

    @Mama, the Dutch pronunciation is “Vl-ee-t.” “Vlee-ay sounds French. The word means “stream’ or “brook” in Dutch.

  4. Dan says:

    Carl, when and where were the articles published? The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co. (TMER&L, predecessor of We Energies and Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) and the public transit industry then and, to a lesser extent, now use motorman for streetcar, interurban (light rail) and rapid transit operators.

  5. Carl says:

    Dan, The sources are as follows;

    The Milwaukee Journal (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Monday, June 16, 1890; pg. 3.

    The Milwaukee Sentinel (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), Monday, June 16, 1890; pg. 3.

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