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Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company Maps and Property Inventory, 1918

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Seattle (Wash.). City Clerk
Title
Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company Maps and Property Inventory
Dates
1918 (inclusive)
Quantity
over 500 maps and drawings
Collection Number
1802-D8
Summary
Maps and drawings accompanying Comptroller/Clerk File 72055, December 30, 1918, describing the street railway property transferred to the City. Included are drawings for track system, bridge, trestle, and culvert construction, as well as building plans. The property was located throughout Seattle.
Repository
Seattle Municipal Archives
Seattle Municipal Archives
Office of the City Clerk
City of Seattle
PO Box 94728
98124-4728
Seattle, WA
Telephone: 2062337807
Fax: 2063869025
archives@seattle.gov
Access Restrictions

Records are open to the public.

Additional Reference Guides

CF 72055

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The 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).

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Content Description

City 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 Digital Collections 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.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company Maps and Property Inventory, Record Series 1802-D8. Item [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Materials are arranged by geographical location and are in the order listed in CF 72055.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Electric power distribution -- Washington (State)
  • Electricity in transportation -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
  • Street railroads -- Washington (State) -- Seattle

Geographical Names

  • Seattle -- Washington (State)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Drawings -- Washington (State) -- Seattle
  • Maps -- Washington (State) -- Seattle

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • Puget Sound Traction, Light & Power Company -- Puget Sound (Wash.) (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Anne Frantilla
2006

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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