Processing Information
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
Arrangement
Scope and Content
Biographical / Historical Notes
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Title: Haugh Transportation Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS 184
Contributing Institution:
San Diego History Center Document Collection
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
3.75 Linear feet
(5 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1886-1969
Abstract: The collection contains materials related to the operation of the San Diego Electric Railway Company (SDERCo) and several
subsidiary transportation franchises acquired by John D. Spreckels.
creator:
Haugh, Jesse L.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Lauren Rasmussen on May 23, 2012.
Collection processed as part of grant project supported by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) with generous
funding from The Andrew Mellon Foundation.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The San Diego History Center (SDHC) holds the copyright to any unpublished materials. SDHC Library regulations do apply.
Preferred Citation
Haugh Transportation Collection, MS 184, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by series:
Series I: San Diego Electric Railway Company
Series II: Citizens Traction Company
Series III: Coronado Railroad Company (Electric Division)
Series IV: Point Loma Railroad Company
Series V: San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company
Series VI: San Diego Street Car Company and Park Belt Motor Line
Series VII: South Park and East Side Railway Company
Items in each series are arranged by subject.
Scope and Content
The collection contains administrative and financial materials of the San Diego Electric Railway Company (SDERCo) as well
as seven other transportation companies purchased by Spreckels. The materials range from 1892, a year after the SDERCo was
founded, to 1950, shortly after the SDERCo (now the San Diego Transit System) was dissolved. The additional franchises present
in the collection are the Citizens Traction Company, the electric division of the Coronado Railroad Company, the Point Loma
Railroad Company, the San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company, the San Diego Street Car Company (including its subsidiary, the
Park Belt Motor Line), and the South Park and East Side Railway Company.
The majority of the materials present are records for the SDERCo and documents related to the purchase and operation of each
individual company. This includes a history of each franchise, maps of corresponding rail lines, and ledgers detailing administrative,
financial, and construction related matters.
Biographical / Historical Notes
John D. Spreckels formed the San Diego Electric Railway Company (SDERCo) on November 30, 1891. A light rail mass transit system
that connected the City of San Diego, the SDERCo comprised 165 miles of track at its peak. Spreckels’ expansion of the SDER
lines involved buying up several failed steam and electric rail companies and incorporating them into a unified system. Acquisitions
made by Spreckels included the San Diego Street Car Company and the Point Loma Railroad Company. Spreckels even went as far
as to purchase the San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company in conjunction with other trolley lines. The SDERCo functioned as
a public utility and by 1918 served the areas of East San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, and Coronado, as well as San
Diego City proper. In July of 1948, 22 years after Spreckels’ death, the SDERCo was bought by the Western Transit Company,
owned by Jesse Haugh, for $5.5 million. The name was changed to the San Diego Transit System (SDTS) that same year. In 1949,
San Diego eliminated light rail transportation in favor of an all bus transit system, and the SDTS was dissolved.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers 860917A and 2003.121.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Citizens Traction Company.
Coronado Railroad Company.
Haugh, Jesse L.
Park Belt Motor Line.
Point Loma Railroad Company.
San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company.
San Diego Electric Railway.
San Diego Street Car Company.
South Park and East Side Railway Company.
Spreckels, John Diedrich, b. 1853
Western Transit Company.
Account books
Business records
Coronado (Calif.)
Ferries
Local transit
Point Loma (San Diego, Calif.)
Railroads
San Diego (Calif.)
Street-railroads
Transportation
Transportation engineering
Trolley buses
Urban transportation