In 1871, Atlanta Street Railway Company began operation of the first streetcar system in the city. The two-mile, mule-drawn route connected downtown Atlanta to the present-day vicinity of Spellman College near the suburb of West End. By 1881, the company owned 17 cars, 114 mules, and operated six lines totaling 11 miles of track throughout the city and its immediate suburbs.

The Metropolitan Street Railroad Company was incorporated in 1883, providing access to the southeast Atlanta neighborhood of Grant Park. In 1887, the company began powering its lines with steam locomotives and service was extended beyond Fulton County to nearby Decatur in 1891. Other streetcar systems in operation during this period included the West End & Atlanta Street Railroad Company (1883) and the Gate City Street Railroad Company (1884).