Walton Holmes

Biographical sketch of Walton Holmes, a pioneer street railway manager in Kansas City. He was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1861 and started work on the street railways about 1876, "made vice-president of the Kansas City & Westport Horse Railway" about 1878, going on in 1886 to become "the first in the United States to demonstrate, in a practical way, the overhead trolley electric system," co-organizing the consolidation of the Grand Avenue Cable Company, Kansas City Cable Company, and Metropolitan Street Railway through the 1890s. Description of his later career, aiding in the building of the park and boulevard system and Convention Hall, "elected president of the American Street Railway Association" in 1900 and co-organizing the Pioneer Trust Company in 1902.