Northern Texas Traction Company

The Northern Texas Traction Company was a subsidiary of Stone & Webster that operated the streetcar system and interurban lines in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Northern Texas Traction Company began with the purchase of the City Railway of Fort Worth by George T. Bishop in 1900. Bishop also acquired the Dallas and Oak Cliff Elevated Railway to gain access to Dallas. Construction of the second interurban line in the State of Texas linked the city of Fort Worth with the city of Dallas to the east with operations commencing on July 1, 1902. The Bishop interests sold out to Stone & Webster Engineering in 1905. In 1905 the street cars were moving at 8 mph, but by 1923 the speed had picked up to 10.1 mph.

The power generating plant and workshops for the interurban line were located in the small town of Handley just east of Fort Worth. The Northern Texas Traction Company bought land south of Handley where it developed a trolley park called Lake Erie. The pavilion at Lake Erie included a roller skate rink, a dance hall, restaurant and rides on a pier above the water. See: Handley (Fort Worth)