University Riley Center for Education and Performing Arts." A significant business that developed in this period was Soulé Steam Feed Works, incorporated by George W. Soulé in 1893, which industrialized cotton and helped grow the lumber industry in the city. Partly due to Soulé's business, Mississippi was ranked sixth among the states in cotton seed production by the 1920s. In 1894 the Wechsler School was built as the first brick public school building in the state for African-American children, after the full community passed a bond issue to build the substantial school. The school served the city until 1978. Since then, the building has been used by a variety of community organizations. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 15, 1991, and in 1994 ownership of the building was transferred to the Wechsler Community Art Association. The association has a multi-year plan to renovate the building for extended community use. By 1897 the mule-drawn trolley system was replaced by an electric trolley system, operated by the Meridian Street Railway and Power Company. The addition of this system increased economic activity in the downtown area and allowed the city to spread out. The trolley system eventually reached up to north of the downtown area. By 1907, the lines connected various locations in the city including main tracks following 8th and 5th streets as well as several offshoots to peripheral communities. The most common stop for the streetcars during this era was Highland Park, located at the end of the 34th Avenue line. Another common stop for streetcar riders was the Grand Opera House; in fact, for years streetcars were the primary mode of transportation to the Opera House for residents of the city. One limitation of the streetcar system, however, was that it could not pass over the railroad tracks on the south side of downtown, so the southernmost neighborhoods were unable to receive service. Turn of the century With traffic increasing due to a growing population, the city built Union Station in 1906 to coordinate all the railroads. Along with Union Station, several hotels were built, including Hotel Meridian, Grand Avenue Hotel, Terminal Hotel, and Union Hotel. By 1907 an average of 40 trains per day passed through the city, and the various railroad companies provided over 6,000 jobs to the city's residents. By 1920 as many as 100 trains per day passed through