Market Street Railway stock certificate 1927 (California) - San Francisco streetcars

Desirable San Francisco streetcar collectible. Great classic vignette of an American Bald Eagle perched with wings spread. Issued and cancelled. Dated 1927. Measures approximately 12 x 8.5 inches.

The Market Street Railway Company was a commercial streetcar and bus operator in San Francisco. The company was named after the famous Market Street of that city, which formed the core of its transportation network. Over the years, the company was also known as the Market Street Railroad Company, the Market Street Cable Railway Company, and the United Railroads of San Francisco.

The franchise for what would become the Market Street Railway was granted in 1857 to Thomas Hayes. The line was the first railway to open in San Francisco, commencing service on July 4, 1860 as the Market Street Railroad Company.

Horses began to replace steam as traction in 1867. In 1895 the company placed a newspaper advertisement in The San Francisco Examiner offering horse cars for $20.

Following the opening of the cable hauled Clay Street Hill Railroad in 1873, pressure grew to convert the city's horsecar lines to the new form of traction. In 1882, Leland Stanford and associates bought the Market Street RR Co. and converted its lines to cable haulage. The company's name was changed to the Market Street Cable Railway Company.

In 1893, Stanford died and the company was taken over by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The company was again renamed to the Market Street Railway Company, and began converting its lines to electric traction.

Over time, other lines were absorbed - the Clay Street Hill RR, the San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway, the Presidio & Ferries Railway, and the Ferries and Cliff House Railway. Ironically the 1906 earthquake that brought so many benefits to the company also sowed the seeds of its demise, as the independent Geary Street, Park & Ocean Railway was acquired by the city and became in 1912 the beginning of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni).

1893–1921:
Known as United Railroads (URR) after mergers; later reverted to the "Market Street Railway" name in 1921.

"Roar of the Four":
For years, the company competed directly with Muni on Market Street, resulting in four sets of parallel tracks.

Dissolution:
In 1944, voters approved the city's purchase of the company for $7.5 million, merging it into Muni.

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