Lex Anteinternet: August 1, 1920. Denver Tramway workers go on strike.

Lex Anteinternet: August 1, 1920. Denver Tramway workers go on strike.:

August 1, 1920. Denver Tramway workers go on strike.

Denver Tramway Building in Denver, which now houses the giant Denver REI outlet.

Workers for Denver Tramway, the cities streetcar company, went on strike on this day in 1920.

Founded in 1886, Denver Tramway had expanded aggressively and become a monopoly in the city.  Its workers founded a union in 1918 and were demanding fare increases in order that their wages could be raised.  Denied their goal, they went out on strike on this day.

 Cable car barn on 14th and Arapahoe.

The company responded by bringing in strike breakers, with the first street car piloted from the cable car barn at 14th and Arapahoe by strike breaker John "Black Jack" Jerome, whom the company had hired to organize strike breakers.  The strike would soon turn violent and up to 1/3d of the cities police reported by August 6 to have received serious injuries.  Denver's mayor called for armed citizens to enforce the peace on that day and Federal troops arrived later that day and restored order.

Cheyenne State Leader from August 1, 1920, noting that strike breakers were being brought in.

The net result was that the union was broken and would not be reorganized until 1933.  Seven Denverites were dead, all of whom were in the nature of bystanders to the violence.

Jerome, who was born Yiannis Petrolekas in Greece, would go on to have a successful career in his dangerous profession.  A poor immigrant to the US who had arrived in 1905, he had first sought his fortune in aviation but in 1917 he changed his name and founded the Jerome Detective Agency.  Having worked in the streetcar industry, he offered its services to strike and union breaking, which made him a rich man.  His company expanded during this time and at one time even employed Dashiell Hammett, prior to his becoming famous.

He invested in real estate and, during the depression, in horse and dog racing.  In 1933 he returned to Greece a rich man, while still retaining business interests in the United States.  He died in San Francisco in 1953, his funeral delayed as an undertakers union went on strike in protest over his having broken a strike of theirs in prior years.

The Denver Tramway Power Company Building.

This very large structure was built by the Denver Tramway Power Company, a subsidiary of the Denver Tramway, to supply electricity to its network of electric trams in Denver. The giant building was constructed in 1901.

We don't often think of the physical plant that trolley cars of any kid require, but this structure gives us a pretty good example. The building was used as a power generating facility for fifty years, at which time the railway stopped operating (it has since been replaced by a new rail system operated by Denver's RTC).

After the Denver Tramway quit using it, it was used by International Harvester for a time.  Today, however, the giant open building is occupied by the Denver outlet for the recreational equipment co-op REI, replacing a smaller store that occupied a former grocery store in Aurora.

The rail lines still exist and are still in operating condition.  There's presently an effort to secure train service locally near REI, adding to Denver's extensive rail network.

 Storm drain outlet which a graffiti artist had made resemble a cat's head.