Side A: The Rapid Railway began operation in 1903 and was the Interurban Railway and Terminal Company’s (IR&T) northernmost traction line. The IR&T began near Pleasant Ridge and Kennedy Heights in Cincinnati and connected to a street car line that originated downtown, on Sycamore Street, and passed through a total of fourteen municipalities. The interurban cars ran down Main Street through Mason before turning south onto Dawson Street, crossing Muddy Creek, and traveling to Kings Mills. From Kings Mills, the line continued to Lebanon where it terminated. The full ride from downtown Cincinnati to Lebanon took approximately one hour and fifty minutes. (Continued on other side)
Side B: (Continued from other side) The Rapid Railway was vital to local munitions production during World War I. In 1916 the Peters Cartridge Company opened a new munitions factory on its site near the traction line in Kings Mills. Among other war materiel, the factory manufactured rifle and machine gun cartridges. Company advertisements noted the factory was accessible by interurban and workers were able to commute at a time before many owned automobiles. The IR&T abandoned the line in 1922, but it heralded a new era of mobility for the region and aided Warren County and the region’s war effort.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.