The Madison Street Cable Railway provided public transportation along one of Seattle's busiest thoroughfares from 1890 to 1940. Built to connect downtown Seattle with Lake Washington, Madison Street was Seattle's steepest cable line, terminating downtown at a turntable on West Street (now Western Avenue), near the present-day ferry terminal on Puget Sound. In this image a Madison Street Cable Railway car, by this time operated by the Seattle Electric Company, rides on wooden cribwork during the Third Avenue regrade project. A conductor stands on the side of the car while another man waits on the rails. Beyond the cribwork, the Seattle Theatre sits on the corner of Third Avenue and Madison Street; posted on the exterior is an advertisement for a performance by Yon Yonson on Sunday, January 20, 1907. The large building up the hill from the theater is the Lincoln Hotel at Fourth Avenue and Madison Street.

Caption information source: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattles-streetcar-history Caption information source: "Street Railways in Seattle," by Walt Crowley, HistoryLink.org Essay 2707

• Subjects (LCTGM): Grading (Earthwork); Street railroads--Washington (State)--Seattle