From ~1903 till (end year), trolleys serviced the Lebanon area, carrying passengers from St Louis to Lebanon with stops in East St Louis, O’Fallon, (stop references here). Trolley service sped up the time it used to take to cover the approximate 22 miles from the river (at East St Louis) to the terminus here in Lebanon.

The trolleys that serviced Lebanon were originally named the “St. Louis, O’Fallon and Lebanon” line. It became part of the “Great Eastside Electric Railway System”.

The original rails ran alongside what is now Hwy 50, turned up alongside Hwy 4, and ended at the base of the hill (near the grade school). Eventually, the line was changed so that it turned north at Horner Street, then turned east onto West St Louis Street at the Methodist Church. The terminus for the new tracks was just in front of what is now Cedar’s Restaurant, near the Mermaid House. As seen in the above photo, the line ran through the business district of Lebanon.

If you notice dark bricks on current day West St. Louis Street, you can see that they run parallel all the way from Horner Street to Hwy 4/50. These show where the tracks were when the trolleys still ran here.