State Historical Society of Iowa

Workers Repairing a Streetcar in Council Bluffs, Iowa, 1945

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Parked streetcar seems to wait for workers to finish repairs to rails and roadway in front of it. Four story buildings seen in the background, and two story buildings on either side of the streetcar along with parked cars and a few pedestrians.
Courtesy of the State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines Register & Tribune, 1945

Description

Workers are shown repairing streetcar tracks on a downtown street in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1945. A rail system connected Council Bluffs with nearby Omaha, Nebraska. Council Bluffs, Iowa had 45,429 people in 1950 and 62,230 people in 2010.

Source-Dependent Questions

  • Is Council Bluffs, Iowa, an urban area or a rural area? Use evidence from the image to support your answer.
  • What opportunities would a streetcar system provide for residents of Council Bluffs, Iowa?
  • What unique challenges would a construction site like this one have?