Birmingham Electric

Company History: BECo appeared in 1921 to take over the streetcar lines of the Birmingham Railway Light & Power Company in Birmingham, Alabama that had fallen into bankruptcy in 1918. As part of the new arrangement, the city demanded that BECo streetcars conform to the new segregated seating laws. In addition to running streetcars, BECo was an electric utility which helped the company survive the Depression. After the war, they ordered 47 new PCC cars from Osgood Bradley. The new cars didn’t stop the loss of business to the automobile. The PCC cars were later sold to the Toronto Transit Commission. In 1950, Alabama Power Company began buying BECo stock with an eye on their utility business. The SEC approved the move provided the streetcar line was sold. The following summer, the streetcar line became the Birmingham Transit Company.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.