Everyone knows the story about the horse car accident that Andrew Smith Hallidie witnessed in 1869 that purportedly set his mind in motion to develop the cable car. This is a wonderful story and surely helped sell the idea to a nervous public, but the reality is that Hallidie, and his father before him, spent much of their lives mulling over the problem of how to move people and things using the family's signature product: wire rope. Join historian Taryn Edwards as she explores the inventive life of Andrew Smith Hallidie and outlines the evolution of thought that led to the development of San Francisco's signature transportation system - the cable car!


Taryn Edwards is a 5th generation San Francisco Bay Arean. She is a librarian and historian who specializes in the study of San Francisco’s libraries, book culture, and the fairs of the Mechanics’ Institute. She is working on a biography of Andrew Smith Hallidie titled To the Land of Golden Butterflies: The Life of California Hero, Andrew Smith Hallidie (1834-1900). She lives in the beautiful East Bay with her daughter and two energetic dogs.