Eureka Springs at one time had the most unique street car system in the nation. It began as a mule car line in 1891, but was electrified seven years later. It remained in operation until 1923 when it was crowded out by jalopies which invaded the town. The streets were not wide enough to accommodate both the street car and the Model T. The total length of the line was about three miles, but the two terminals of the main line were only half a mile apart. The entire system was a single track with three passing switches. The track was standard gauge and placed near the curb at one side of the street, as the streets were too narrow for center tracks.

John T. Brown, writing in “Trolley Sparks,” says that the Citizens Railway Company of Eureka Springs had a total of twelve cars, five of which were closed cars operated by one man, six two-man open cars, and one work-car which was also used as a party car. Except for two of the cars, all were originally mule-drawn cars purchased second hand from Houston, Texas. These cars were motorized with second hand electrical equipment purchased from the Detroit Street Railways. In 1904, two new summer cars were obtained from the St. Louis Car Company.

The Daily Times-Echo in the twenty-fifth anniversary issue of April 24, 1905, says:

“In no other city on the continent can there be found a street railway that leads such a winding course around and up and down the mountain-sides as does the Citizens Electric Railway of Eureka Springs. As you alight at the depot of the St. Louis and North Arkansas Railway you find a well-equipped street car there in waiting, and presently you are swung up and around the mountain side along what appears to be a ledge or precipice, and to the timid, it seems that in each instance there is danger of the car being hurled to the valley below. But really such a possibility is very remote, for during all the years the line has been in operation there has never been a serious accident. To make safety doubly sure, the far-seeing management has had guard rails laid all along this section of the line. From the depot up the mountain side to the intersection with the main line at the Crescent Spring, a little more than half a mile, the ascent amounts to a fraction over 101 feet, or a little more than 200 feet to the mile. The main line, which circles around West Mountain, traversing the most popular thorofare of the city and passing most all the famous springs and principal institutions, is not without its grades and wondrous curves.... At the Auditorium (now the Harmon Playgrounds), the track commences a most charming and tortuous ascent, and a feat of engineering that has challenged the admiration of many scientific men who have visited the resort. A roadbed had to be graded around the mountain side at angles that would seem ridiculous were it anywhere else than in this unusual mountain range. One car will be only a few yards from and above the other, and apparently going in the same direction when actually, they are headed toward opposite ends of the line. These ends, however, are only 300 yards apart, one end resting in the valley while the other is at the mountain’s peak. From the Crescent Hotel to the Auditorium there is a descent of 140 feet.

“The equipment and service on this street railway is better than can be found in many cities of far greater population than Eureka Springs, and the entire system is a source of gratification and pride to our people. Visitors make the valley echo with their merry shouts as they are carried around its course in the beautifully decorated and lighted trolley party cars, and the bands and orchestras of the city are frequent participants in these festivities.”