The Reason San Francisco has Cable Cars
June 1, 2009 by Jon Rochetti
Filed under Home & Living
Location: One of the seven hills
Destination: San Francisco
Country: United States
Year Taken: 2008
Photographer: Adriana Sbardellati
Blog: Flickr Photos
People often mentioned the seven hills of San Francisco — Telegraph Hill, Nob Hill, Twin Peaks, Rincon Hill, Russian Hill, Mount Sutro and Mount Davidson. Actually the city has 44 named hills. The tallest, Mount Davidson, stands 925 feet high (282 m), and the shortest is Rincon Hill at 100 feet (31 m).
In 1873, the first San Francisco streetcar line was opened on Clay Street. The grip, or operator grasped a handle that gripped an underground cable pulling the street car up and down the hill.
Today there are three cable car lines running through San Francisco – Powell-Hyde, Powell-Mason and California Street. The first two are mostly used by tourists, while the California Street line is primarily a commuter line.
Besides the turn-of-the-century cable cars, San Francisco still uses electric streetcars that were built in the late 1940s
A ride on a San Francisco cable car costs $3.00, each way.
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