A 1953 tribute to a popular tourist attraction that operated from 1883 to 1910 went as follows:

"Let's take a trip, on memory's ship, back to the long ago. Back to the days, and old-fashioned ways, Mother and Dad used to know. Let's take a ride on the old horse car, that goes up to Cherrelyn. Oh the horse pulls you up, then he gets inside, and he rides back down again. You wear your best Sunday bonnet, I'll bring my old mandolin, and we'll take a ride on the old horse car, that goes up to Cherrelyn."

----The Old Horse Car (That goes up to Cherrelyn)
Music and lyrics by Forrest Johnson and Ozie Waters

Denver's first transportation service began with horse cars in 1871. The initial route consisted of more than twon miles of track running from Seventh, down Larimer to Sixteenth, and along Sixteenth to Champa and out to Twenty-seventh. By 1884 the service had expanded to forty-five cars, two hundred horses, and over one hundred employees.

The Cherrelyn Line was built in 1883 by the Southside Investment Company and operated until 1910. The horse was hitched to a single car at Hampden and Broadway. It pulled the car up one-and-a-half miles of track on a steep Broadway hill. At the height of the run was a small shopping community called Cherrelyn. At this point the horse was unhitched and let to the back of the car where it was backed onto a platform. Harnessing gravity, the horse and passengers would coast back to the route's starting point. The trip up the hill took fifteen minutes while the ride back down took only three. The fare was five cents in 1883, but after some time was increased to a dime.

The Cherrelyn Horse Car became one of the most popular attractions in Englewood. The return trip was a favorite camera subject, and numerous photographs survive documenting the horse car's fame. The owners discontinued the line in 1910, and Louis F. Liebhart, a local fruit and vegetable broker, purchased the car. The Liebhart family donated the coach to the Englewood Rotary Club in 1950, after which it was refurbished and installed on a platform in Englewood City Park. Later, it was placed in front of the City Hall, and is displayed in Englewood Civic Center's lobby today.

By Judy Steiner, Associate Curator, Photography and Films