As an engineer, it did not take Hallidie long to design the cable railway, by which an engaged cable in a slot would carry a car uphill or down at the same speed. Financing the project was more difficult, but faith and confidence prevailed, and construction began in May, 1872. Many labeled it “Hallidie’s Folly.” Laboring against a franchise deadline granted by skeptical city fathers, Hallidie and his crew worked through the night on the final day of grace. On August 2, 1873 at 5 a.m., Hallidie took the grip man’s position in the original cable car and triumphantly made the first run from the top of Nob Hill, safely down steep Clay Street to the wonderment of the doubting spectators.
Today, the cable cars still run from Hallidie Plaza at Market Street, up Powell Street, past the hotels on Nob Hill and down to Fisherman’s Wharf, providing the scenic ride which is the preferred mode of transportation for most of the millions of people who visit Fisherman’s Wharf annually