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Seattle Municipal Archives PO Box 94728 600 Fourth Avenue, Floor 3 Seattle, WA 98124-4728 Phone: 206/233-7807 Email: archives@seattle.gov http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives
Guide to the Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company Maps and Property Inventory, 1918
1802-D8 Finding aid encoded by Anne Frantilla, 2006 |
Historical NoteThe Municipal Street Railway System was formed in 1919 when the City purchased the Seattle street car rail lines of the Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company, Seattle Division. Voters approved the purchase of the railway properties of the Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company, Seattle Division on November 5, 1918. The Company was owned by Stone & Webster, based in Massachusetts, which purchased utilities and street railways in the late 1890s. Formed in 1898 by Stone & Webster, the Seattle Electric Company consolidated property and rights of small transportation and utility businesses. Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power incorporated in 1912. The Municipal Street Railway System was administered by the Department of Public Utilities until 1932 when the Department was abolished. The System was then under the authority of the Board of Public Works. By 1938, the System was archaic and bankrupt. It received a loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1939 and began a modernization program. The System was reorganized in 1939, changed its name to the Seattle Transit System, and came under the policy direction of the Seattle Transportation Commission from 1939-1951 and then the Seattle Transit Commission until 1971. The newly formed Department of Transportation operated the System until 1973 when it became part of Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (Metro). Content DescriptionCity of Seattle Clerk File 72055 dated December 30, 1918, describes the street railway property transferred to the City. The property includes franchises, contracts, and rights, right of ways, land, street railway track system, drawings for track system, bridge, trestle, and culvert construction, utility equipment, railway distributing system, tools, and buildings. Property was located throughout Seattle including: Fremont, Green Lake, East Jefferson, Madrona, Madison Street, Yesler Way, James Street, North Seattle, Georgetown, Ballard and West Seattle. In addition to describing the property of Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power, the CF 72055 serves as an index to the prints and drawings that accompany the CF. Researchers should consult CF 72055 for descriptions of property, schedules of right of ways, franchises, contracts, agreements, bridges, units of equipment, railway poles, and other data. Individual maps are cataloged in the Map Index and can be found using the search term 1802-D8. All maps and drawings are described below at the folder level. Drawings include the track system and equipment, as well as buildings such as car barns and waiting stations. Legal descriptions of the property being transferred to the City is also included in the Clerk File. Rolling stock, freight, passenger and miscellaneous cars owned by Puget Sound Traction at the time of the purchase, are also listed in the Clerk File. ArrangementMaterials are arranged by geographical location and are in the order listed in CF 72055. Subjects
Detailed Description of the CollectionThe following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in
the collection.
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