The Chippewa River Trolley is inspired by the trolleys that once rumbled along the streets of Eau Claire.

Back in 1879, Eau Claire became the third city in Wisconsin to have regular horse-drawn streetcar service. Ten years later, those streetcars were electrified, and Eau Claire became only the fourth city in the nation to have an electric trolley system!

Eventually trolleys connected Eau Claire with Chippewa Falls and points in between. That “interurban” route ended in 1926, and Eau Claire’s trolley traveled the streets for the last time in 1932 — until now.