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The Danbury and Bethel Street Railway was a streetcar operator in Danbury and Bethel, Connecticut. Service began in 1887, and at the greatest extent the company operated 15 miles of trackage. The primary coverage area was the old and historic central area of Danbury.

In Connecticut, most local trolley lines were interconnected and operated by the Connecticut Company or the Connecticut Railway and Lighting Company. Danbury's system, isolated from these, was atypical.

The company's main line was on Main Street from City Hall to Wooster Square. At Wooster Square, the line branched. One line went north on Main Street to North Street, ending at the intersection of North Street and Padanaram Road. Another line left Wooster Square and went east to White Street, to the edge of Beaver Brook at the intersection of Triangle Street and White Street. The line went west from City Hall up to the West Street park. At the West Street park, the track divided again, one line going farther out on West Street to Lake Avenue. The other branch at the West Street park went out Division Street to West Wooster Street, along West Wooster to Frye’s Corner, west on Park Avenue to the Fairgrounds, down Backus Avenue to Kenosia Avenue and on to Lake Kenosia.

From the City Hall the tracks went down South Main Street to the car barns and then south to Bethel, continuing down to its Main Street, ending at Fountain Place.

Around 1914, the Danbury and Bethel Street Railway ran into financial difficulty, with decreasing ridership resulting from the decline of the local hat factories. The company attempted to construct a trolley route between Bridgeport and Danbury, but could only build as far north as Trumbull, and this caused a severe loss of funds.

As roadways were improved and mass production made cars more affordable, passenger ridership further declined as they swiched from riding the streetcars to driving private automobiles. Further financial losses resulted from a fire in the barns in the early 1920’s which destroyed 19 trolley cars.

In the 1920s a new form of competition developed. Small privately operated buses operating flexible routes dubbed “jitneys” began operation in Danbury in the 1920’s. Jitney was slang for a nickel at that time, and jitneys got that name because they had a 5 cent fare. But service was not permitted on the trolley routes.

In 1918, after the company went into bankruptcy, J. Moss Ives, the brother of famous Danbury composer Charles Ives, took charge. He purchased the first buses by 1921 to operate a route between West Street and Lake Avenue in Danbury, rather than expending the capital to extend the trolley line. Ives reorganized the trolley company as the Danbury and Bethel Traction Company in 1925, now operating on 13 miles of track.

Defunct Transit Operators in Connecticut
Horsecar systems Bridgeport Horse Railway Company • East Hartford & Glastonbury Horse Railroad • Hartford & Wethersfield Horse Railroad Company • Meriden Horse Railroad Company • New Haven & West Haven Horse Railroad • New London Horse Railway Company • Norwalk Horse Railroad Company • Stamford Horse Railroad Company • State Street Horse Railroad Company • Waterbury Horse Railroad Company
Streetcar systems Branford Lighting & Water Company • Bridgeport Railway Company • Bridgeport Traction Company • Central Railway & Electric Co. • Cheshire Street Railway • Connecticut Electric Company • Connecticut Light & Power Company • Consolidated Railway Company • Derby & Ansonia Street Railroad Company • Derby Street Railway • East End Railway Company • Edgewood Avenue Electric Company • Edgewood Street Railroad Company • Fair Haven & Westville Railroad • Farmington Street Railway • Greenwich Tramway Company • Groton & Stonington Street Railway • Groton & Stonington Traction Company • Hartford & West Hartford Railroad • Hartford Manchester & Rockville Tramway Company • Hartford Street Railway • Lake Saltonstall Railroad Company • Meriden Electric Railroad • Meriden Southington & Compounce Tramway Company • Middletown Street Railway • Milford Street Railway • Montville Street Railway • New Haven & Centreville Street Railway • New Haven & Morris Cove Railway Company • New Haven & Shore Line Railway, Incorporated • New Haven Street Railway • New London Street Railway • Norwalk Street Railway • Norwalk Tramway Company • Norwich Street Railway • Peoples Tramway Company • Portland Street Railway Company • Putnam & Thompson Street Railway Company • Shelton Street Railway • Shore Line Electric Railway Company • South Manchester Light Power & Tramway Company • Stamford Street Railroad • Suffield Street Railway • Thompson Tramway Co. • Torrington & Winchester Street Railway • Waterbury Traction Company • Westport & Saugatuck Street Railway • West Shore Railway Co. • Whitney Avenue Railroad Company • Willimantic Traction Company • Winchester Avenue Railroad • Worcester & Connecticut Eastern Railway Company
Bus systems Bridgeport Auto Transit Company • Candlewood Bus Company • Chestnut Hill Bus Corporation • Chieppo Bus Company • City Bus Line • Cross Country Coach, Inc. • Danbury Power & Transportation Company • Gray Line Bus Company • H & W Transit Company • Joseph H. McMahon Company • Orange Street Bus Line • Savin Transit Company • Stratford Bus Line Company • Thames Valley Transit, Incorporated • Valley Transportation Company
Streetcar/Bus systems The Connecticut Company • Connecticut Railway & Lighting Company • Danbury and Bethel Street Railway • Danbury and Bethel Traction Company
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