Title: Louis Lorenz Stein, Jr. collection

Dates: 1873-1979

Collection Number: MS 31

Creator/Collector: Stein, Louis L. Jr. (1902-1996)

Extent: 50 boxes + 1 oversize box

Repository: California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Abstract: The collection represents the railroad-related papers and documents accumulated by Berkeley, California pharmacist and historian Louis, Lorenz Stein, Jr. (1902-1996).

Language of Material: English

This collection is open for research at our off-site storage facility with one week's notice. Contact Library & Archives staff to arrange for access.

Copyright has not been assigned to the California State Railroad Museum. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the District Collections Manager. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the CSRM as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Louis Lorenz Stein, Jr. collection. California State Railroad Museum Library and Archives

Gifts of Louis L. Stein, Jr., 1977 and 1987.

Louis Lorenz Stein was born August 21, 1902, in Berkeley. In 1924 he earned a degree from the University of California's School of Pharmacy. In 1928, a year after his marriage, he opened a pharmacy in Kensington. Although he had followed his father's advice to go into business, Mr. Stein had a lifelong passion for history. He collected everything he could find relating to local history, including letter, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, maps, newspapers, artifacts, often resucing materials destined for destruction. On a grander scale, in 1955, he bought the Martinez Adobe to save it from being razed. Throughout his life, he shared his knowledge and his collections with anyone seeking information about local history. In 1956, he established the Pharmacy Museum at Columbia State Park. In the early 1980s Mildred and Louis Stein donated their considerable materials relating to Contra Costa County to the Contra Costa County Historical Society. Louis L. Stein, Jr. passed away in Berkeley, on November 11, 1996. [Adapted from Contra Costa County Historical Society website.]

The collection is arranged into seven series. 1 CORPORATE EPHEMERA •2 CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, CASE FILES •3 WESTERN PACIFIC RAILWAY RECORDS (Pre-1916) •4 WESTERN PACIFIC RAILROAD RECORDS (Post-1916) •5 PAYROLLS •6 ROBERTS LUMBER COMPANY RECORDS •7 MISCELLANEOUS COURT CASESThe first contains forms, waybills, tickets, train orders, letters, letterheads, vouchers, receipts, and other ephemera from over 200 North American railroads. Reports, reminiscences and business documents from the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Southern Pacific, and Virginia & Truckee Railroads are also included in this series. •The second series is composed of legal case files from the Contra Costa County Superior Court, mostly involving the San Francisco & San Joaquin Valley, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, and the Southern Pacific. These files contain primarily personal injury suits, proceedings for condemnations of land and right of way encroachment suits. •The third series, consists of records of the Western Pacific Railway (prior to 1916). These records include correspondence of Western Pacific Railway Vice President and Chief Engineer Virgil Bogue, General Auditor, J. F. Evans, and division engineers concerning construction of the line. Other construction-related documents, including vouchers from the principal contactors, are present as are records concerning equipment. •The fourth series consists of documents from the Western Pacific Railroad (after 1916). These records include information relating to the company's physical plant, steam and diesel locomotives acquired and retired, acquisition and retirement of other equipment, and records relating to the Deep Creek Railroad, a Western Pacific subsidiary in Utah. •The sixth series contains legal documents, financial records, correspondence and minutes of meeting of the Roberts Lumber Company, which was incorporated in January, 1903 by J.H. Roberts and Minerva Roberts. Roberts Lumber Company, located in Loyalton, California, provided lumber to the Western Pacific Railway. •Photographs from the Louis L. Stein, Jr. Collection are part of the Museum's photograph collection.