Gittins and Bally

From Lane Co Oregon

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The first automobile arrived in the Eugene-Springfield area in 1907. Springfield had an automobile dealership in 1911 called Gittins and Bally and over the next few years, local blacksmiths either adapted to the change by learning automobile repair along with horseshoeing and carriage guilding, or went out of business. But the streetcar, so modern in 1911, was outdated in the 1920s. The automobile, by then cheap, practical and efficient with the improved roads, was the modern mode of transportation. The City Council decided in 1926 to allow Portland, Eugene and Electric Company, owned by Southern Pacific, to discontinue streetcar service. Bus service was instituted (Graham 1978b:7).