Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company records
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Abstract
This collection includes administrative, business, and financial records of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company spanning the period 1875 to 1897.
Historical note
The Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company was incorporated in 1874 and became an extensive elevated railroad in Brooklyn and, after the consolidation of 1898, New York City. The first rail was laid in 1883, and the railroad opened to the public in May of 1885. W. Fontaine Bruff was president of the company until circa 1883, when Henry W. Putnam became president. Putnam was succeeded by Adolf Ladenburg in 1892.
The original elevated line ran from Washington and York streets along Flushing Avenue to Grand Avenue and then Myrtle Avenue. It was taken out of service in 1889 and replaced by 1890 with four main lines:
The Broadway line, running from the Broadway Ferry in the neighborhood of Williamsburg to Van Sicklen Avenue in the neighborhood of East New York,
The Lexington line, running from the Brooklyn Bridge to Van Sicklen Avenue in East New York,
The Myrtle Avenue line, running from the Fulton Ferry to Wyckoff Avenue in the neighborhood of Ridgewood, and
The Fifth Avenue line, running from the Brooklyn Bridge to Fifth Avenue and 36th Street in the neighborhood of Sunset Park.
A fifth line, the Fulton Street line, owned by the Kings County Elevated Railroad Company, was also later added to the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad's system.
Sources:
- Cunningham, Joseph, and Leonard DeHart. A History of the New York City Subway System: Rapid Transit in Brooklyn. New York?: Cunningham, 1977.
- Fischler, Stan. Uptown, Downtown: A Trip through Time on New York's Subways. New York: Hawthorn Books, 1976.
- Howard, Henry W.B., ed. The Eagle and Brooklyn. Brooklyn, N.Y.: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1893.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by document type.
Scope and Contents
This collection includes administrative, business, and financial records of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company spanning the period 1875 to 1897. Items include correspondence among the trustees of the Company, operations reports, contracts, memorandums, articles of incorporation, and minutes. The records indicate the financial arrangements and operations of a growing transportation system in the 1880s, including plans for property use, employment and labor needs, pay rates, construction expenses, and passenger statistics. Substantial portions of the collection include letters addressed to Henry W. Putnam, president of the Railroad, and letters from Frederick Uhlmann, a New York City hops merchant who was chairman of the Executive Committee.
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Organizations
Conditions Governing Access
Open to users without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company records, 1977.120, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from James B. Stewart, 1940.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Minimally processed to the collection level.
Processing Information
This collection was rehoused from a shared box into its own box by Dee Bowers in 2023.
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This finding aid does not include an online listing of contents.
To learn about viewing this collection in person, please contact cbhreference@bklynlibrary.org.
