Document Archives Record

Metadata

Collection

MS 184

Title

Haugh Transportation Collection

Object type

Documents

Catalog Number

MS 184

Creator

Haugh, Jesse L.

Year Range from

1886

Year Range to

1969

Scope & Content

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.

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.

Quantity

3.75 Linear feet (5 boxes)

Notes

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.

Finding Aid

http://www.sandiegohistory.org/archives/archivalcollections/ms184

Names

Haugh, Jesse L.
Spreckels, John Diedrich, b. 1853
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.