The Pacific Electric Railway and Its History In The San Bernardino Valley

The Pacific Electric Railway and Its History In The San Bernardino Valley

"For a railroad town, this spelled certain doom. San Bernardino no longer had its critical strategic importance as a transportation hub. It was no longer the "Gateway City." Third Street degraded into a dismal ghost town. It is also not a coincidence that the Central City Mall was built (obliterating much of Third Street) at the site where the Pacific Electric Railway station had been, and that other demolition and "redevelopment" projects took place in the 1960s and early 1970s. This was the same time period when San Bernardino lost most of its critical railroad industry, which would ultimately seal the city's fate. Today, it can be said that San Bernardino still has never completely recovered from that loss. For over 50 years, the Pacific Electric Railway, though only one of many railroads to serve San Bernardino, played a huge and inseparable role in its early development and prosperity."