The collection consists of 1164 black and white photographs, 97 glass negatives, clippings, correspondence, manuscripts, notes, a card file, and a ledger book related to the Los Angeles Railway, 1851-1939, collected and created by Edwin L. Lewis. The collection provides a broad pictorial overview of the development of the railway systems in Los Angeles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as well as information on the physical development of the city itself.

The Los Angeles Railway Corporation (LARy) was the product of mergers and consolidations of numerous local and interurban railways in Los Angeles and adjacent communities. In 1910, Henry E. Huntington yielded his interests in the Pacific Electric Company to the Southern Pacific Railroad Company, which subsequently controlled the interurban lines, and he incorporated the Los Angeles Railway Company and other railway interests to form the Los Angeles Railway Corporation, which operated the Los Angeles city lines.

27 boxes, 22 linear feet

All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Photographs. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Huntington 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.