In August 1873, San Francisco tested a new cable railway system designed to operate on streets where horses struggled with steep grades. Andrew Smith Hallidie tested the first cable car on Clay Street on 2 August, using an endless wire rope placed in a tube below the surface of the street. The Clay Street Hill Railroad began public service on 1 September 1873. Its route climbed a hill rising 307 feet above Kearny Street, with the steepest grade recorded as 1 in 6 15/100. The cable system later spread across San Francisco, while cable cars continued serving steep hills as electric streetcars and buses expanded.
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