MS 184 Haugh Transportation Collection
Table of Contents
- Summary Information
- Biographical / Historical Notes
- Scope and Content
- Arrangement
- Administrative Information
- Controlled Access Headings
- Collection Inventory
- San Diego Electric Railway Company
- Citizens Traction Company
- Coronado Railway Company (Electric Division)
- Point Loma Railroad Company
- San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company
- San Diego Street Car Company and Park Belt Motor Line
- South Park and East Side Railway Company
Summary Information
- Repository
- San Diego History Center Document Collection
- Creator
- Haugh, Jesse L.
- Title
- Haugh Transportation Collection
- ID
- MS 184
- Date [inclusive]
- 1886-1969
- Extent
- 3.75 Linear feet (5 boxes)
- Language
- English
- 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.
Preferred Citation
Haugh Transportation Collection, MS 184, San Diego History Center Document Collection, San Diego, CA.
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.
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.
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.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
San Diego History Center Document Collection May 23, 2012
1649 El Prado, Suite 3
San Diego, CA, 92101
619-232-6203
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Accession numbers 860917A and 2003.121.
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.
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Citizens Traction Company.
- Coronado Railroad Company.
- 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.
- Western Transit Company.
Geographic Name(s)
- Coronado (Calif.)
- Point Loma (San Diego, Calif.)
- San Diego (Calif.)
Personal Name(s)
- Haugh, Jesse L.
- Spreckels, John Diedrich, b. 1853
Subject(s)
- Account books
- Business records
- Ferries
- Local transit
- Railroads
- Street-railroads
- Transportation
- Transportation engineering
- Trolley buses
- Urban transportation
Collection Inventory
Series I: San Diego Electric Railway Company |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| History, 1892–1925 | 1:1 | |||
| Administration and operation, 1892–1918 | 1:2 | |||
| Administration and operation, 1919–1924 and undated
Includes: “Power Planet Equipment” summary taken from the California Railroad Commission report (in Oversize Collections D2) |
1:3 | |||
| “San Diego Electric Railway Company: Application No. 3808 – Before the Railroad Commission of the State of California” (ledger), 1918 November 1
Scope and Content: This ledger is a report compiled at the request of the California Railroad Commission to provide a complete financial and traffic survey of the SDERCo. The ledger details the SDERCo’s rates, charges, rules, regulations, and general practices. There is a detailed index arranged alphabetically by subject, including a separate list of all tables and charts presented in the report. Subjects include financial information, such as bonds, construction accounts, and employee wages, and administrative topics regarding rail energy outputs, territories served, and yearly comparative statements. |
1:4 | |||
| “Construction Department 440, Volume 2” (ledger), Accounts 501-505, 1901–1924
Scope and Content: This ledger details the general expenditures for the construction of the SDERCo rail lines. Each section is divided by an individual, numerical account which pertains to a particular area of construction, including: expenditures for draftsmen and engineers, real estate purchases, land grading, ballasts, and railroad materials (ties, fastenings, joints, etc.). Each section includes a summary of what the account includes and a detailed chart divided by date/item/cost/subtotal/remaining balance. |
1:5 | |||
| “Construction Department 440, Volume 2” (ledger), Accounts 506-508, 1892–1924
Scope and Content: This ledger details the general expenditures for the construction of the SDERCo rail lines. Each section is divided by an individual, numerical account which pertains to a particular area of construction, including: expenditures for draftsmen and engineers, real estate purchases, land grading, ballasts, and railroad materials (ties, fastenings, joints, etc.). Each section includes a summary of what the account includes and a detailed chart divided by date/item/cost/subtotal/remaining balance. |
1:6 | |||
| “Construction Department 440, Volume 3” (ledger), 1892-1923
Scope and Content: This ledger details the underground construction costs for the SDERCo. Each section is divided by an individual, numerical account which pertains to a particular area of construction, including: tunnels and subways, trestles, paving, roadway machinery, distribution systems, car houses, and bridges. Each section includes a summary of what the account includes and a detailed chart divided by date/item/cost/subtotal/remaining balance. |
2:1 | |||
| “Construction Department 440, Volume 4” (ledger), 1892-1924
Scope and Content: This ledger details the structures and buildings construction costs for the SDERCo. Each section is divided by an individual, numerical account which pertains to a particular area of construction, including: stations, waiting rooms, locomotives, dams, canals, and substations. Each account also includes the furnishings and tools purchased to complete each structure. Each section includes a summary of what the account includes and a detailed chart divided by date/item/cost/subtotal/remaining balance. |
2:2 | |||
| Finances, 1892–1908 | 2:3 | |||
| Finances, 1892–1924
Includes: 1924 accounts for the Mission Beach Line (in Oversize Collections D2) December 1924 Road and Equipment Expenditures report (in Oversize Collections D2) |
2:4 | |||
| “San Diego Electric Railway Company Original Cost: Road and Equipment” (ledger), 1918
Scope and Content: This ledger details the SDERCo’s “original construction costs.” The four sections include: the general road and equipment accounts as prescribed by the Interstate Commerce Commission for Electric Railways, the history of the investment in road, equipment, and maintenance for the years 1892-1918, the record of jobs and description of work from 1902-1918, and the summary of each construction account that are discussed more in depth in Construction Department 440 ledgers, volumes 2-4. Investment costs and employment expenditures are presented chronologically. |
3:1 | |||
| “San Diego Electric Railway Company Receipts for Certificates of Stock” (ledger), 1892 January 2–1948 March 30
Scope and Content: The ledger is arranged chronologically, which also corresponds to the numerical stock certificate number. |
4 | |||
| Map, 1918 June
Includes: “System of the San Diego Electric Railway Co. as of Dec. 31” |
Oversize Collections D2 | |||
|
|
||||
Series II: Citizens Traction Company |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| History, 1918 September 18 | 3:2 | |||
| Administration and operation, 1918 July 1 | 3:3 | |||
| Finances, 1898–1918 and undated | 3:4 | |||
| Map, 1918 June 26
Includes: “System of the Citizens Traction Company as acquired by San Diego Electric Railway Co. March 23, 1898” |
Oversize Collections D2 | |||
|
|
||||
Series III: Coronado Railway Company (Electric Division) |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| History, 1918 September 17 | 3:5 | |||
| Administration and operation, 1907 January–1909 December | 3:6 | |||
| Finances, 1918 July 5 | 3:7 | |||
| Maps, 1918 June 28-August 14
Includes: “Electric Division of the Coronado Railroad Co. as acquired by the San Diego Electric Railway Co. July 1, 1908” “Coronado Division of the San Diego Electric Railway Company as of Dec. 31, 1917” |
Oversize Collections D2 | |||
|
|
||||
Series IV: Point Loma Railroad Company |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| “Point Loma Railroad Company: Original Cost Road and Equipment” (ledger), 1914 July 1
Scope and Content: This ledger details the financial expenditures for the construction of the Point Loma Railroad. Each section is divided by an individual, numerical account which pertains to a particular area of construction, including: labor, real estate purchases, land paving and grading, machinery, equipment (ties, ballasts, gravel, etc.), and structures (stations, bridges, trestles, etc.). Each section includes a summary of what the account includes and a detailed chart divided by date/item/debit/credit/net balance. |
3:8 | |||
|
|
||||
Series V: San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| “San Diego and Coronado Ferry Co By-Laws” (bound), 1886-1927
Scope and Content: Contains by-laws for the San Diego and Coronado Ferry Co. Inside front cover contains index to the Articles and their Amendments. |
3:9 | |||
| “San Diego & Coronado Ferry Co. Minutes of Stockholders and Directors Meetings” (bound), 1886 May 22-1920 February 16
Scope and Content: Minutes book contains meeting minutes for the Stockholders annual meetings and the Board of Directors regular monthly meetings and special meetings. |
3:10 | |||
| “Stock Certificate Book, The San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company” (bound), 1886 May 20-1969 December 9
Scope and Content: The stock certificate book is arranged chronologically, which also corresponds to the numerical stock certificate number. Includes a cancelled stock certificate as a result of the corporation’s liquidation, December 9, 1969. |
5 | |||
| “San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company Original Cost: Real Property and Equipment Accounts” (ledger), 1886–1919
Scope and Content: This ledger details the financial expenditures for equipment and property of the San Diego and Coronado Ferry Company. Each section is divided by an individual, numerical account which pertains to a particular subject, including: the operation of each of the SDCFCo’s steamers, wharf and ferry house maintenance, and general office costs. Each section includes a summary of what the account includes and a detailed chart divided by date/item/debit/credit/net balance. |
4:1 | |||
| “S.D. and C. Ferry Co” (receipts and disbursement ledger), 1923-1927
Scope and Content: The ledger is arranged chronologically with cash receipts and disbursements on alternating pages. Receipts are divided into columns for date/from/description/account number/amount/accounts receivable/agents and pursers/ticket sales. Each page has a note regarding the total receipts and balances. Disbursements are divided into columns for date/audited vouchers/depreciation funds. Each page has a note regarding the total disbursements and balances. |
5 | |||
| “Cash Book S.D. and C. Ferry Co.” (ledger), 1949-1950
Scope and Content: The ledger is arranged chronologically with cash receipts and disbursements on alternating pages. Receipts are divided into columns for date/from/description/number/amount. Disbursements are divided into columns for date/issues to/commencing number/closing number/total tickets/month total/price per/amount. |
5 | |||
|
|
||||
Series VI: San Diego Street Car Company and Park Belt Motor Line |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| History, 1918 July 3 | 4:2 | |||
| Administration and operation, 1918 June 5–28 | 4:3 | |||
| Finances, 1891 December 31–1892 December 31 | 4:4 | |||
| San Diego Street Car Company Stock Certificates Ledger, 1886 May 27–1894 January 14
Scope and Content: The ledger is arranged chronologically, which also corresponds to the numerical stock certificate number. |
5 | |||
| Map, 1918 June 10
Includes: “System of the San Diego Street Car Company . . . as of December 31, 1891 . . .” |
Oversize Collections D2 | |||
|
|
||||
Series VII: South Park and East Side Railway Company |
||||
| Box-folder | ||||
| History, 1918 September 19 | 4:5 | |||
| Finances, 1909 May 27–1919 September 13 | 4:6 | |||
| Map, 1918 June
Includes: “System of the South Park & East Side Railway Co. as acquired by the San Diego Electric Railway Co. August 27, 1909” |
Oversize Collections D2 | |||
Return to Archival Collections.
