Thomas Lowry

Who was Thomas Lowry?

Thomas Lowry was a lawyer, real-estate magnate, and businessman who oversaw much of the early growth of the streetcar lines in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and surrounding communities in Minnesota. He became head of the Minneapolis Street Railway Co., later to become part of Twin City Rapid Transit.

Lowry was born in Logan County, Illinois, and came to Minneapolis in 1867 after passing the bar to become a lawyer. He set up shop and quickly found much of his work to be related to real-estate deals. Soon, real-estate became his primary focus. In 1875, he was recruited to join the Minneapolis Street Railway, which was rushing to begin operations. Two years later, in 1877, he had a controlling interest in the company. He managed the company and organized finances, while his brother-in-law Calvin Gibson Goodrich handled other details. In the early days, Lowry spent a lot of time arranging loans so the railway could be expanded. Lowry had the idea to extend rails out into areas that had not yet been developed, much of that land being owned by him.

His company merged with the rail line of St. Paul after the first "interurban" line connected the Twin Cities.