Archives: Southern Railway Historical Association Collection of Southern Railway Historic Structure Drawings, Related Correspondence, and Other Historic Preservation Initiatives
LMS2003.009
Provenance:
The Southern Railway Historical Association loaned these records in 2003.
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes for a small fee. Permission to publish materials from this collection must be obtained from the Director of Library/Archives and the Southern Railway Historical Association, Inc.
Sallie Loy processed these papers in 2006.
Organizational History of the Southern Railway Historical Association, Inc.
The Southern Railway Historical Association, Inc. is a non-profit educational organization chartered in North Carolina for the preservation and dissemination of information related to Southern Railway, its predecessors, successors and affiliates.
The Association publishes a bimonthly magazine, TIES Magazine, holds annual meetings in locations of historical significance to Southern Railway, and makes available special offerings of books, videos, slides and other items to its members and to the public. The Association�s goals include the establishment of a research archives and a photo archives. Credit: Southern Railway Historical Association Website www.srhs.net
Organizational History of the Southern Railway
Southern Railway is the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined since the 1830s.
The nine-mile South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Co., Southern's earliest predecessor line, was chartered in December 1827 and ran the nation's first scheduled passenger service to be pulled regularly by a steam locomotive -- the wood-burning "Best Friend of Charleston" -- out of Charleston, S.C., on Christmas Day 1830. When its 136-mile line to Hamburg, S.C. was completed in October 1833, it was the longest continuous line of railroad in the world.
As railroad fever struck other Southern states, networks gradually spread across the South and even across the Allegheny Mountains. Charleston and Memphis, Tenn., were linked by 1857, although rail expansion halted with the start of the Civil War.
Known as the "first railroad war," the Civil War left the South's railroads and economy devastated. Most of the railroads, however, were repaired, reorganized and operated again. In the area along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, construction of new railroads continued throughout Reconstruction.
Southern Railway was created in 1894, largely from the financially-stressed Richmond & Danville system and the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroad. The company owned two-thirds of the 4,400 miles of line it operated, and the rest was held through leases, operating agreements and stock ownership.
Southern also subsequently controlled the Queen & Crescent Route (Alabama Great Southern; New Orleans & Northeastern; Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific; and for a time the Alabama & Vicksburg), and the Georgia Southern & Florida, which were operated separately.
Samuel Spencer
Southern's first president, Samuel Spencer, drew more lines into Southern's core system. During his 12-year term, the railway built new shops at Knoxville, Tenn., and Atlanta, and purchased more equipment. He moved the company's service away from an agricultural dependence on tobacco and cotton and centered its efforts on diversifying traffic and industrial development.
By the time the New Orleans & Northeastern (Meridian-New Orleans) was acquired in 1916 under Southern's president Fairfax Harrison, the railroad had attained the 8,000-mile, 13-state system that marked its territorial limits for almost half a century.
The Central of Georgia became part of the system in 1963, and the former Norfolk Southern Railway Co. (Norfolk-Charlotte) was acquired in 1974.
Southern and its predecessors were responsible for many firsts in the industry. Its predecessor, the South Carolina Canal & Rail Road Co., was the first to carry passengers, U.S. troops and mail on regularly-scheduled steam-powered trains, and it was the first to operate at night. In 1953, Southern Railway became the first major railroad in the United States to convert totally to diesel-powered locomotives, ending its rich history in the golden age of steam.
From dieselization and shop and yard modernization, to computers and the development of special cars and the unit coal train, Southern often was on the cutting edge of change, earning the company its catch phrase, "The Railway System that Gives a Green Light to Innovations."
Credit: Southern Railway Historical Association website www.srha.net
Southern Railway Historical Association Collection of Southern Railway Historic Structure Drawings and Related Correspondence
Description: This series consists of Southern Railway Company Historic Structure Drawings, related correspondence and V.P. Engineering Files.
| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Alabama |
| 1 | 1 | Birmingham, Alabama Index:
S-1 Crane Support Assemblies P-1 Office Area Plumbing Plans M-1 Office Area HVAC Plans and Specifications E-1 Office Area Plans and Specifications |
| 1 | 2 | North Birmingham, Alabama Index:
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| 1 | 3 | Decatur, Alabama Index:
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| 1 | 4 | Huntsville, Alabama Letter to Bill Schafer (Southern Railway Engineer) from Don Dobravolsky re: Huntsville Depot dated 15 December 1992 |
| 1 | 5 | Mobile, Alabama Index: |
| 1 | 6 | Russellville, Alabama |
| 1 | 7 | Selma, Alabama |
| 1 | 8 | Tuscumbia, Alabama |
| 1 | 9 | Union Springs, Alabama
Index:
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| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & |
| 1 | 10 | Jacksonville, Florida
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| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Georgia |
| 1 | 11 | Adel, Georgia |
| 1 | 12 | Athens, Georgia
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| 1 | 13 | Atlanta, Georgia
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| 1 | 14 | Atlanta, Georgia
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| 1 | 15 | Cornelia, Georgia Newspaper Article: The Times, Gainesville, Georgia, Sunday, July 9, 1978 re: Johnny Bond Sr�recalls old days with photos of the Cornelia Depot in 1915 with its single track that later became the Tallulah Falls Railroad, now abandoned; Monterey Hotel at Mt. Airy, Railroad Station at Mt. Airy, Commercial Hotel at Cornelia, now, gone; Joel Poole, Station Agent at Cornelia; and Bill Meeks, signal maintainer stationed in Cornelia. |
| 1 | 16 | Gainesville, Georgia
Passenger Depot File No.: 18-40 Date: December 3, 1910 |
| 1 | 17 | Jackson, Georgia Combined Depot File No.: 15-368 Date: October 22, 1910 Front and Passenger End Elevations Cross Section Thro� Waiting Room Cross Section Thro� Front Room |
| 1 | 18 | Krannert, Georgia
Office Building for Track Supervisor File No.: 121-2619 Drawing No.: A-81015 Date: March 10, 1981 |
| 1 | 19 | Macon, Georgia
Office Building for Coastal Division at 225 Walnut Street Date: April 27, 1979 |
| 1 | 20 | Royston, Georgia |
| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Illinois |
| 2 | 21 | Mt. Vernon, Illinois |
| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Indiana |
| 2 | 22 | Huntingburg, Indiana
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| 2 | 23 | Princeton, Indiana Index:
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| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Kentucky |
| 2 | 24 | Erlanger, Kentucky
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| 2 | 25 | Lexington, Kentucky |
| 2 | 26 | Lexington, Kentucky |
| 2 | 27 | Louisville, Kentucky
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| 2 | 28 | Ludlow, Kentucky |
| 2 | 29 | Somerset, Kentucky
Depot Drawing No.: 901 – Floor Plan – Two copies Drawing No.: 902 – Proposed Depot Drawing No.: 902 – Front/North Side Elevation Drawing No. 903 – Rear/South Side Elevation Drawing No. 903 – South Side Elevation Revised Date: January 7, 1913 |
| 2 | 30 | Somerset, Kentucky (Pulaski County)
New Division Office Building File No.: 155-925 Drawing No.: A-79014 Valuation Map No.: V2 KY 24 Date: April 25, 1979 |
| 2 | 31 | Williamstown, Kentucky Track Supervisors Office File No.: 121-300 Drawing No.: A-80017 Valuation Map No.: V-1-Ky Date: March 4, 1980 |
| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Mississippi |
| 3 | 32 | Corinth, Mississippi
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| 3 | 33 | Hattiesburg, Mississippi
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| 3 | 34 | Meridian, Mississippi
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| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: North Carolina |
| 3 | 35 | Brevard, North Carolina |
| 3 | 35A | Buncombe County, North Carolina Station Map – Ashville Division Station Map – Ashville Division Station Map – Ashville Division |
| 3 | 36 | Charlotte, North Carolina |
| 3 | 37 | East Durham, North Carolina |
| 3 | 38 | Eden, North Carolina
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| 3 | 39 | Elkin, North Carolina |
| 3 | 40 | Greensboro, North Carolina – Pomona Yard |
| 3 | 41 | Hickory, North Carolina |
| 3 | 42 | High Point, North Carolina Addition to Freight Depot
Southern Railway�Passenger Depot With Correspondence from the High Point Preservation Society, Inc. re: their plans for restoring the depot in 1991 |
| 3 | 43 | Kannapolis, North Carolina Plan �B� with correspondence |
| 3 | 44 | Madison, North Carolina |
| 3 | 45 | Old Fort, North Carolina |
| 3 | 46 | Oxford, North Carolina
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| 3 | 47 | Raleigh, North Carolina (Wake County)
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| 3 | 48 | Saluda, North Carolina
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| 4 | 49 | Salisbury, North Carolina |
| 4 | 50 | Salisbury, North Carolina |
| 4 | 51 | Spencer, North Carolina |
| 4 | 52 | Statesville, North Carolina
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| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: South Carolina |
| 4 | 53 | Blacksburg, South Carolina |
| 4 | 54 | Charleston, South Carolina
Blueprint of Charleston, S.C.
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| 4 | 55 | Greenville, South Carolina |
| 4 | 56 | Kershaw, South Carolina
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| 4 | 57 | Williamston, South Carolina |
| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Tennessee |
| 4 | 58 | Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga Station Co.
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| 5 | 59 | Memphis, Tennessee – Forrest Yard |
| Box | File | Contents – Historic Structure Drawings & Related Correspondence: Virginia |
| 5 | 60 | Miscellaneous correspondence and drafts for buildings in Virginia |
| 5 | 61 | Alexandria, Virginia
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| 5 | 62 | Amelia, Virginia |
| 5 | 63 | Andover, Virginia |
| 5 | 64 | Danville, Virginia |
| 5 | 65 | Dundee, Virginia |
| 5 | 66 | Keysville, Virginia |
| 5 | 67 | Lynchburg, Virginia |
| 5 | 68 | Manassas, Virginia |
| 5 | 69 | Monroe, Virginia |
| 5 | 70 | Charlottesville, Virginia |
| 5 | 71 | Charlottesville, Virginia
Documentation: National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form prepared by Frederick Spitzmiller of University of Virginia, dated November 5, 1977 for the Southern Railroad Station, Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville 2020: A Thirty Year Vision Balancing Development and Preservation on West Main Street and the Mall, Spring 1988 Newspaper article re: �Developers present plans for station: Neighbors voice excitement, concern - No name of paper or date Newspaper article in The Daily Progress re: Preservation of Union Station Grant Award, October 222, 1993 |
| 5 | 72 | Norfolk, Virginia |
| 5 | 73 | Orange, Virginia |
| 5 | 74 | Rapidan, Virginia Correspondence re: Rapidan Freight Depot, 1993 |
| 5 | 75 | Richmond, Virginia Correspondence: File No. R-1139 Release for Southern Railway employees to ride between Hull Street Station and Main Street Station, or vice versa on Southeastern Express Company trucks Correspondence: File No. R-1145 Agreement September 13, 1953, with the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company of Virginia, concerning maintenance of public telephone station at Hull Street Passenger Station – September 28, 1933 Correspondence: File No. R-1158 Agreements between Yellow Cab Company of Virginia, Inc. and Southern Railway to transfer passengers from Hull Street Station to the station used by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company Correspondence: File No. C-758 Agreement October 12, 1935, with Richmond Transfer Company, Incorporated, for transfer of baggage, Main Street Station, Richmond, Va; together with bond in connection therewith Correspondence: File No. C-537 Main and supplemental agreements dated March 24, 1915, and June 1, 1936, respectively, between Seaboard Air Line Railway and Southern Railway Company, covering joint use of tracks of the SAL for operation of passenger trains to and from Main Street Passenger Station, Richmond, Virginia |
| 5 | 76 | Richmond, Virginia Agreements with the City of Richmond and other correspondence |
| 5 | 77 | South Richmond, Virginia – Chesterfield County Correspondence: Agreement dated November 2, 1914, between Seaboard Air Line and Southern Railway covering easement granted by the Seaboard for the construction and operation of connection track near Rocketts Junction, South Richmond, Virginia. Correspondence: File No. C-856 Standard Oil Company Pipe Lines on Railway Right of Way at Rocketts Junction, South Richmond, Virginia Correspondence: File No. C-1114 Contract 1114 between Southern Railway Company and Standard Oil Company re: Rocketts Junction, South Richmond, Virginia Correspondence: File No. C-562 Contract 562 between Southern Railway Company lot no. 306 at South Richmond, Va., required as right of way for connection track between the tracks of the Southern Company and the Sea- board Air Line at that point. Contract dated September 16, 1915 Correspondence: File No. C-1457 Agreement March 9, 1942, with Receivers of Seaboard Air Line Railway Company, concerning elevation of grade of certain tracks or portions of tracks of Southern Railway Company, South Richmond, Virginia |
| 5 | 78 | Front Royal, Virginia |
| 6 | 79 | The Plains, Virginia |
| 6 | 80 | Warrenton, Virginia |
| 6 | 81 | Woodstock, Virginia
Freight Depot Correspondence File No. 1/805-W |
| 6 | 82 | Washington, D.C. |