Exeter has been the terminal for the Visalia Electric Railroad, the first 15-cycle alternating current rail line in North America, since its start in 1905, together with the Southern Pacific Railroad, which created the town in 1888, and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, which came in 1912. Exeter led the county in passenger arrival-departures until the Visalia Electric discontinued its passenger cars in 1924. These three railroads greatly contributed to the agricultural prosperity of the Exeter District.