By 1920, the railway was very much alive and healthy as it carried its passengers to and from their various destinations around Pensacola and the outlying areas. On May 29, 1926, the Pensacola Electric Company was merged with another Maine Corporation, the Gulf Power Company that included the takeover of the electric railway franchise. But by the middle 1920’s, there were more than just high level corporate shenanigans threatening the railway system. The invention and popularity of the American automobile began to ring the death knell for the old trolley cars. Finally, the automotive trend won the contest and on December 31, 1931 the city’s thirty trolleys traveled their last passenger routes and the clanging of their bells was heard no more. Some of the trolleys were kept past the New Year to continue the freight car runs, but even these could not survive the gasoline powered trucks that were hauling much of the merchandise around town. The last freight run was made in engine #55 on May 16, 1932 by Crockett Taylor Wilson (below right with Moses Penton left), a 40-year old conductor who worked for the line from 1912 until his forced retirement in 1932. Crockett later went to work as a deputy sheriff and served under the administration of three sheriffs. He died in Brent on July 11, 1948 and was buried in the Beulah Baptist Church Cemetery. As far as the roads in the beginning of the 1920’s, Pensacola was all but inaccessible to automobile traffic except by a sand clay road to and from Alabama. The Florida section of the Old Spanish Trail from Pensacola to the Apalachicola River required nearly a ten-hour drive largely because the Escambia and Choctawhatchee Rivers could be crossed only by ferries. Sand clay roads connected Mobile to Pensacola after following a circuitous route around Mobile Bay since there was no causeway bridge available at the time. Pensacola also lacked a bridge connection with Santa Rosa Island on the Gulf of Mexico requiring another ferryboat ride for a day on the beach.
Ending of the trolley car era
Electric trolley next to Ferdinand Plaza
Early Escambia County ferry for automobiles
Crockett Taylor Wilson (1892-1948)