| Title | Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority records, 1848-1958.
|
| Description | 11.10 linear ft.
|
| General Note | These records form part of the archives of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, but they predate the creation of the RTA.
|
| Restrict. Access | Original records closed. Researchers must use microfilm.
|
| Summary Note | Summary: Articles of incorporation, merger agreements, directors' and stockholders' minutes, executive committee minutes, monthly and annual reports, financial reports and operating statements, and statistics of the Cleveland Railway Co. and its predecessor companies, and of the Shaker Heights Rapid Transit and its predecessor, the Cleveland Interurban Railway Co. controlled by the Van Sweringen brothers. Included are public documents such as franchise ordinance negotiations between Cleveland Electric Railway and the City of Cleveland, arbitration proceedings which led to the "Tayler Grant", and printed ordinances regulating the street car companies. The collection is useful for understanding the history and genesis of the current Regional Transit Authority, as well as the history of public transportation in Cleveland and the daily operations of the various firms. The bulk of the collection pertains to the Cleveland Railway Co., and especially to the period of the "traction wars."
|
| Form Available | The library also has 25 reels of microfilm (positive and negative) of the collection.
|
| Historical Note | The Greater Cleveland RTA (f.1974) is the most recent of numerous public transportation bodies in Cleveland and its surrounding areas. The Cleveland Electric Railway Co. and the Cleveland City Railway Co. were formed in 1893 when individual street railway firms with exclusive street franchises merged. Cleveland Electric Railway and Cleveland City Railway themselves merged in 1903, to form the Cleveland Electric Railway Co. Mayor Tom L. Johnson, promoting the idea of municipal ownership and a $.03 fare, formed a competing Municipal Traction Co. in 1906 which led to the "traction wars" that put both companies in receivership in 1908. Federal Judge Robert W. Tayler arbitrated the new "Tayler Grant" franchise agreement between the Cleveland Electric Railway Co. and the city, approved by voters in 1910. The renamed Cleveland Railway Co., directed first by J.J. Stanley, and later by Van Sweringen interests (1930-37), handled transit operations until municipal ownership was instituted in 1942 under the Cleveland Transit System. CTS existed until 1974, when the Greater Cleveland RTA was formed to consolidate mass transit on a county-wide basis.
|
| Cum. Index Note | Register available in the library.
|
| Subjects | Cleveland (Ohio) -- Politics and government.
Cleveland and Youngstown Railroad Company -- Archives.
Cleveland City Railway Company -- Archives.
Cleveland Electric Railway Company -- Archives.
Cleveland Interurban Railway Company -- Archives.
Cleveland Railway Company -- Archives.
Grievance arbitration -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Local transit -- Ohio -- Cleveland Metropolitan Area.
Municipal franchises -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Municipal ownership -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Shaker Heights Rapid Transit -- Archives.
Street-railroads -- Law and legislation -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Street-railroads -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Street-railroads -- Ohio -- Shaker Heights.
Tayler, Robert W.
Trolley buses -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
|
| Other Authors | Johnson, Tom Loftin, 1854-1911.
Tayler, Robert W.
Stanley, John J.
Van Sweringen, Oris Paxton, 1879-1936.
Van Sweringen, Mantis James, 1881-1935.
|
| Organizations | Cleveland (Ohio). City Council.
Cleveland Electric Railway Company.
Cleveland Railway Company.
Cleveland City Railway Company.
Cleveland Interurban Railway Company.
Shaker Heights Rapid Transit.
Cleveland and Youngstown Railroad Company.
Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority.
|
| Call Number/Copies | |
| | WRHS Research Library: LR RA 0001
mq11881: LC class, closed stacks [status: NON-CIRCULATING] |
| [Record 6232] |
|