Finding Aid for the Los Angeles Railway Corporation Legal Records and Correspondence

Denise Villegas
Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
One Gateway Plaza
15th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952
Phone: (213) 922-4859
Fax: (213) 922-7955
Email: library@metro.net
URL: http://www.metro.net/library
© 2012
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. All rights reserved.

\Finding Aid for the Los Angeles Railway Corporation Legal Records and Correspondence

Collection number: 73-DGPTL

Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archives

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority

Los Angeles, California
Processed by:
Denise Villegas
Date Completed:
February 17, 2012
Encoded by:
Denise Villegas
© 2011 Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Finding aid for the Los Angeles Railway Corporation legal records and correspondence
Dates: 1890 - 1944
Bulk Dates: 1891 - 1899
Collection number: 73-DGPTL
Creator: Los Angeles Railway Corporation
Collection Size: 4 boxes 0.83 linear feet
Repository: Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archives.
Los Angeles, CA 90012-2952
Abstract: Legal documents and correspondence generated in the operations of Los Angeles Railway Corporation, the company that operated local streetcar transit from 1895 - 1945.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

Please contact the Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archives for information on collection access and restrictions.

Publication Rights

For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Dorothy Payton Grey Transportation Library. Permission for reproduction or publication is given on behalf of the Dorothy Payton Grey Transportation Library as the owner of the physical items. The researcher assumes all responsibility for possible infringement that may arise from reproduction or publication of materials from the Dorothy Payton Grey Transportation Library collections.

Preferred Citation

Finding aid for the Los Angeles Railway Corporation legal records and correspondence, 73-DGPTL. Dorothy Payton Grey Transportation Library.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

Southern California Rapid Transit District material was passed on to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) after LACMTA was created by the California State Legislature through a merger of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

Custodial History

Los Angeles Railway had a library, and some of the material from that library became part of the library established by the Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD) in 1971. SCRTD's library and its materials were retained by the successor agency, Los Angeles County Transportation Authority, undergoing a name change in October 2001 to commemorate the work of former librarian, Dorothy Peyton Gray.

Processing Information

Items in this collection have been cataloged, but were not processed or arranged, simply stored, folded in boxes. Therefore, the numbers assigned to each item are not in sequential order.

Biography / Administrative History

Los Angeles Railway Corporation (LARy) operated local streetcar transit from 1895 - 1945. Distinguished from the father reaching Pacific Electric Railway Company's streetcars by vehicle color, LARy was also known as the Yellow Cars of Los Angeles. During its operation, LARy expanded service by merging with the Main Street & Agricultural Park Street Railroad. Henry E. Huntington became owner of LARy in 1898, and the controlling interest remained part of the Huntington estate until 1945 when the Fitzgerald Brothers purchased those shares. LARy became part of the National City Lines, was renamed the Los Angeles Transit Lines, and eventually the streetcars were phased out, replaced by motor buses.

Scope and Content of Collection

This collection is comprised of documents generated by the operation of Los Angeles Railway Corporation. This includes drafts and final copies of trust deeds/mortgages, contracts made with stockholders, banks, and other corporations such as the Southern California Power Company. Also included are check stubs, correspondence, accounting documents, and handwritten notes.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in five series. 1. Contracts, 1890 - 1944. 2. General Operations, July 1893. 3. Correspondence, 1894 - 1899. 4. Construction, April 1898. 5. Miscellaneous, 1898. Arrangement within each series is chronological with unknown dates at the front.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Los Angeles Railway
Local transit
Los Angeles (Calif.)--1880-1890.
Transportation

Other Finding Aids

A more detailed container list is available in this repository.

Related Archival Material

Materials created by and related to Los Angeles Railway Corporation are available in this repository.