The Streetcar Strike of 1900: St. Louis’s “Civil War”
By Amy Blankenship, Show Me History Podcast
In the summer of 1900, the streets of St. Louis turned into a battlefield. For four months, the city was gripped by violent clashes between union streetcar workers and the powerful St. Louis Transit Company. What began as a labor dispute spiraled into what newspapers later called St. Louis’s Civil War.
By the time it ended in September, 14 people were dead, hundreds were injured, and the city had been brought to a standstill.
Streetcars and Consolidation
In 1899, ten independent streetcar companies in St. Louis merged into two:
St. Louis & Suburban Railways
St. Louis Transit Company
The merger followed legislation pushed through with help from a bribe, removing limits on stock capitalization. The Transit Company quickly took control of all city lines.
For riders, consolidation meant fewer cars, longer waits, and higher fares. For workers, it meant longer hours — up to 17 per day — and stricter rules.
Two Strikes, One City
The unrest began in the Suburban Railways system. Workers, organized as Local 144 of the Amalgamated Association of Streetcar Railroad Employees, demanded better hours and conditions. On May 29, 1900, they walked out.
Within weeks, they reached an agreement: union recognition, reinstatement of fired workers, a 10-hour day, and extra pay for overtime.
But while the suburbs quieted, tensions exploded in the city.
Transit Company Showdown
The St. Louis Transit Company refused to work with Local 131 of the streetcar union. Demands included:
Rehiring fired union members.
Wage increases.
A 10-hour workday.
Overtime pay.
Formal union recognition.
Initially, the company agreed — but quickly broke the deal, cutting hours, firing workers for minor infractions, and creating unbearable conditions for union members. On May 8, 1900, 3,000 workers went on strike.
Violence in the Streets
Replacement workers were brought in from other cities — often armed — to keep streetcars running. Violence erupted almost immediately:
Streetcars were stoned, shot at, or derailed.
Overhead power lines were cut.
Crowds blocked tracks with boulders and debris.
Inexperienced replacements caused fatal accidents.
Support for the strikers extended beyond the union. Poorer neighborhoods like Kerry Patch joined in by sabotaging lines. The strike became not just about wages — it was about class resentment.
First Blood
On May 9, Spanish-American War veteran Frank Liebrecht was killed by a stray bullet when a streetcar inspector fired into a crowd. His death was the first of many and fueled public anger.
Within days, not a single one of the city’s 896 streetcars was running. People walked, used horse-drawn wagons, or hitched rides on delivery trucks.
Class Warfare
Businesses took sides. Restaurants refused service based on union status. Other unions fined members caught riding streetcars.
City officials, worried about losing the 1904 World’s Fair bid, avoided calling in the state militia. Instead, Sheriff John Pohlman deputized 2,500 elite citizens — lawyers, realtors, and businessmen — to form an armed posse. Poorly trained and heavily armed, they were tasked with protecting company property, but their presence deepened the class divide.
The Washington Avenue Massacre
The worst day came on June 10, 1900. Returning from a picnic in East St. Louis, hundreds of strikers marched along Washington Avenue. The posse, believing they had been attacked, opened fire into the unarmed crowd.
Casualties:
3 dead (including streetcar workers)
14 wounded
Multiple bystanders hit by stray bullets
Public outrage was immediate. Demands for the posse’s dismissal followed, though it wasn’t officially disbanded until July 4.
Dynamite and Arrests
By July, a temporary settlement was reached — but it fell apart within days. With public support waning, some strikers turned to dynamite, targeting streetcars and company property.
Police eventually caught two men, Fred Northway and Maurice Brennan, with over 80 pounds of dynamite between them. Northway served time; Brennan fled and was later killed in 1922.
Strike’s End and Legacy
In September, a court-brokered settlement ended the strike. Wages and hours remained as they had been in March, and union membership became voluntary. Workers involved in violence were not rehired.
While immediate gains were small, the strike exposed:
The dangers of monopolies in public transportation
The deep class divisions in St. Louis
The need for stronger labor protections
It also strengthened the city’s labor movement, setting the stage for St. Louis’s later reputation as a union town.
Why It Still Matters
The Streetcar Strike of 1900 was more than a labor dispute — it was a battle over who controlled the city’s lifelines and who had the right to fair treatment. It remains one of the most violent labor conflicts in St. Louis history and a stark reminder of how quickly public unrest can erupt when inequality festers.
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Until next time, I’ll see you in the Lou.