(CALIFORNIA) Correspondence file of the American Railway Exp

Sale 2687 - Lot 61

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Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(CALIFORNIA.) Correspondence file of the American Railway Express Co. on the planning for Los Angeles Union Station. 113 items bound with a brad at one corner, including 31 Letters Signed, 46 carbon copy letters, 27 mounted news clippings, and other memoranda; minor wear, most items with corporate inked stamps, manuscript notes, and other file markings. Los Angeles, CA, 1917-1934

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In the early 20th century, the three main railroads servicing Los Angeles each had their own downtown terminal. The city council pushed for the construction of one central terminal which would reduce the transit chaos. The result was Los Angeles Union Station, which opened after years of controversy and planning in May 1939.

This file was started by express agency executives when the project began gaining traction in 1917. It consists of mounted news clippings interspersed with internal corporate discussions. They consider the impact on their freight business, the acquisition of property near the new station, and more.

This file began in July 1917 with letters addressed to Andrew Christeson as Vice President and General Manager of Wells Fargo & Co., which was soon merged into the American Railway Express Company in 1918. Christeson retired in 1926, but the file continued under Vice President C.R. Graham; the company was renamed the Railway Express Agency in 1929.

A broadside on the 1926 city ballot initiative on the station is headed "Port Highway Association Bulletin. San Pedro Street Property Owners--Attention!!!" One blueprint shows the "Railway Express Agency . . . Requirements at Union Dpt., Alternate Plot Plans," December 1933.