The Durham Traction Company organized and opened the city's electric streetcar system in June 1902. Entrepreneur Richard H. Wright, company president, and other Durham civic leaders were the owners of this company, which was also involved in the production of electricity. Because the city limits had been extended the previous year, Durham had well over 10,000 people and would reach a population of 18,000 by 1910. Within a short time, the trolleys ran six miles, including lines from the Trinity College area (now Duke University's east campus) through downtown to the town's east side, and another line to Lakewood Park, an amusement park the company established at the end of the southwest line.
Although Durham Traction Company retained its name and most officers were unchanged, Henry L. Doherty of New York and the H. L. Doherty Company controlled ownership by 1912. F. W. Frueauff of New York, the only non-Durham director in 1915, was president by 1920, when streetcar lines extended eleven miles within the city. The company's name changed to Durham Public Service Company in 1921. R. L. Lindsay, vice president and general manager, had been manager of Durham Traction.