Ding! Ding! Riding San Francisco's Moving National Historic Landmark
Ride a moving landmark! This short video captures the clank and clang of San Francisco's historic cable cars —the only one of their kind left in the world. Hop aboard for a timeless slice of SF life! The Brief History of San Francisco's Cable Cars San Francisco's cable cars are the world's last manually-operated cable car system and were named a National Historic Landmark . The Birth ( 1873 ): The system was invented by Scottish-born engineer Andrew Smith Hallidie . He was reportedly inspired after witnessing horses struggling—and sometimes dying—while trying to pull railcars up the city's notoriously steep, wet hills. His solution was an ingenious steam-powered system where a car "grips" a continually moving steel cable running beneath the street. The first line successfully launched on Clay Street in 1873. The Peak: By 1890 , the city had a vast network of 23 cable car lines. The Decline & Rescue: The 1906 Earthquake and the...