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Los Angeles Railway Corporation records
mssLARailway  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Preferred Citation
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Scope and Contents
  • Processing Information
  • General
  • Related Materials
  • Arrangement

  • Contributing Institution: The Huntington Library
    Title: Los Angeles Railway Corporation records
    Creator: Lewis, Edwin L.
    Identifier/Call Number: mssLARailway
    Physical Description: 7 Linear Feet (4 boxes, 10 volumes, 5 folders, 1 roll)
    Date (inclusive): 1857-1954
    Date (bulk): 1887-1954
    Abstract: A group of material related to the Los Angeles Railway Corporation.
    Language of Material: Materials are in English.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

    Conditions Governing Use

    The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Los Angeles Railway Corporation records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Gifts of Edwin L. Lewis, 1935-1939. Gift of Mrs. Collis H. Holliday, December 1981. Transferred from Huntington Library ephemera collections, February 2015.

    Biographical / Historical

    The Los Angeles Railway Corporation, formed in 1910, was the final result of various mergers and consolidations of the numerous local and interurban railways which developed in Los Angeles and adjacent communities. In that year Henry E. Huntington yielded his interests in the Pacific Electric Company to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, which subsequently controlled the interurban lines while Huntington incorporated the Los Angeles Railway Corporation, which then operated the Los Angeles city lines. This material was collected by Edwin L. Lewis, who had begun working for the Los Angeles Cable Railway Company in 1888, and eventually became the manager of the Los Angeles Railway Building in 1921.

    Scope and Contents

    The collection consists of source material, mainly statistics, reports, and time schedules, related to the Los Angeles Railway Corporation; the material was collected by Edwin L. Lewis for his projected book on the railway systems of Los Angeles. The collection also includes letters, manuscripts, memorandum books, scrapbooks (with indexes), maps, and documents, including Edwin Lewis' two-volume typescript titled, "Street railway development in Los Angeles and environs, 1895-1938," related to Los Angeles area rail and transportation systems including the Pacific Electric Railway Company.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1940-1981. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from a legacy summary report.

    General

    Former call number: mssLos Angeles Railway records.

    Related Materials

    There is a related collection of approximately 1,200 photographs in the Photo Archives (photCL 58). Boxes 21 and 27 contain indexes with information related to the manuscripts.

    Arrangement

    Organized in two series: Series 1: Reports, correspondence, expenses, ephemera, freight stations, passenger data; Series 2: Maps, memo books, essays, scrapbooks, documents.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Local transit -- California -- Los Angeles -- History
    Street-railroads -- California -- Los Angeles -- History
    Street-railroads -- California, Southern -- History
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
    Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
    Business records -- California, Southern
    Letters (correspondence) -- California, Southern
    Manuscripts -- California, Southern
    Maps -- California, Southern
    Memorandums -- California, Southern
    Reports -- California, Southern
    Scrapbooks -- California, Southern
    Los Angeles Railway
    Pacific Electric Railway Company.