MS 759 - Toledo Edison Company
MLA Citation
Tags
Title | MS 759 - Toledo Edison Company |
---|---|
Subject | Business & Commerce |
Introduction | The operational, financial, and organizational materials of the Toledo Edison Company and its predecessors covers primarily the years 1901 to 1989, although some records dating back to 1853 are in the collection. This collection is representative of the growth of utility companies throughout the 20th century and details many aspects of the operations and financial details that led to this growth. Some records provided in this collection include correspondence, financial audits, annual reports, company publications, and photographs. The collection itself has been divided into two segments. The first grouping consists of boxes related to the Toledo Railways and Light Company, the utility operations of which were a direct predecessor of the Toledo Edison Company. The second segment relates to the development of the Toledo Edison Company from 1921 until approximately 1989. The collection was donated to the Center for Archival Collections, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, in July of 1998 by FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, Ohio, through the cooperation of Lorrin Read. No restrictions exist on the use of this collection and duplication is permitted for research purposes. This collection was processed by graduate students Kristin Dusseau, Roger Chapman, and Shaun Hayes with final revision and completion of the register by Marilyn Levinson, Curator of Manuscripts, in December 2007. |
Agency History | The Toledo Edison Company is a direct descendant of the Toledo Railways and Light Company which existed in Toledo, Ohio, from 1901 until 1921. Toledo Railways and Light, itself composed of several electric streetcar and utilities companies purchased and consolidated, provided electric and gas service to Toledo, Ohio, and the surrounding area. The company also continued to operate a streetcar service. Toledo Railways and Light was owned by Cities Service Company, a national conglomerate owned by Henry L. Doherty. Cities Service Company owned and operated several utilities and streetcar companies throughout the United States. Toledo Edison came into existence in 1921 when the streetcar operations run by Toledo Railways and Light were sold to the Community Traction Company. Throughout the 1920s to the 1950s Toledo Edison continued to purchase smaller utility companies and increase electrical output. In the 1960s, the company began experimenting with the use of nuclear power. This ultimately resulted in the construction of the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio, in 1977. In 1986 the company affiliated with The Illuminating Company to form a parent company known as Centerior Energy. In 1997, a merger between Centerior Energy and Ohio Edison created FirstEnergy Corp., which became the parent company of Toledo Edison and other utility companies. |
Scope and Content | The records of the Toledo Edison Company, and its predecessor companies in particular, offer a comprehensive view at the history of the development and growth of the electric industry in America in the 20th century. Covering both the development of electric companies (in particular, the Toledo Railways and Light Company) and their role in public transportation and the eventual development of larger-scale nuclear powered electric plants, this collection provides an early history of Toledo Edison's growth. The earliest records in this collection, the ones covering Toledo Railways and Light (as well as companies that were purchased by Toledo Railways and Light) are of particular interest and provide an illustration of a surprisingly broad spectrum of subjects. Included in this collection are descriptions of the issue of labor and unions in America in the early 20th century, business conditions in Toledo in the early 20th century, the development of amateur and professional baseball in both Toledo and the United States, World War I and its affect on companies and citizens in Toledo, the financial and industrial organization of early-20th century corporations, the types and functions of early automobiles (as well as modern road systems), and a slight illustration of politics in Toledo in the early 1900s. In addition, there is a wealth of information about the daily operations of a railway company that covers a variety of issues including employment and customer service as well as billing and engineering. The early part of the collection also contains both personal and professional correspondence of Frank R. Coates, a prominent citizen in Toledo in the early 1900s who was president of Toledo Railways and Light. As it pertained to the streetcar system in providing destinations for customers outside the normal workday, it also contains correspondence related to the procurement of entertainment acts which performed at the Toledo Beach from 1908 to 1921. The later part of this collection offers a more scatter-shot view of Toledo Edison's development into a modern power company. A large portion of this part of the collection consists of various audits on companies owned by Toledo Edison and Toledo Edison itself, as well as financial statements and annual reports, primarily in published rather than manuscript material. There are also a number of packets of the Toledo Edison News and a variety of other publications related to the utilities industry. Several biographies of prominent Toledo Edison employees are included as well. Of particular interest in this part of the collection may be the variety of photographs, mostly dealing with construction and operation of plants and Toledo Edison employees. Encompassing approximately 25 linear feet of material and spanning more than 120 years of the history of Toledo Edison and its preceding companies, this collection is particularly useful in the detail it gives about the organization, equipment, operation, business and political climates that the Toledo Railway and Light Company existed in, highlighting the interconnected and extensive system of public transportation at the time. It is also valuable in the glimpse it provides about labor in America in the early 20th century. However, the larger part of the collection, detailing the later evolution of the company, would seem to be of little interest except to those attempting to give a picture of the financial composition of Toledo Edison. Correspondence and other details amply provided in the first part of the collection are noticeably lacking in the second, more contemporary part. The most recent records, those dating from 1991 forward, are either missing or scantly represented. Many of the most important parts of Toledo Edison's most recent history, those dealing with mergers and acquisitions, are not in the collection. |
Series Description | TOLEDO RAILWAYS AND LIGHT COMPANY TOLEDO GAS LIGHT & COKE COMPANY MINUTES ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION MEMBERSHIP RECORDS CORRESPONDENCE - ALBION E. LANG CORRESPONDENCE - H.A. EVERETT CORRESPONDENCE - FRANK R. COATES CORRESPONDENCE - ED KELSEY CORRESPONDENCE - C.E. MURRAY CORRESPONDENCE - F.J. DERGE CORRESPONDENCE - HENRY L. DOHERTY CORRESPONDENCE - TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. CORRESPONDENCE - TOLEDO & WESTERN RAILROAD CO. CORRESPONDENCE - TOLEDO BEACH CORRESPONDENCE - TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. BASEBALL TEAM CORRESPONDENCE - TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. ORCHESTRA CORRESPONDENCE - TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. PUBLIC RELATIONS CORRESPONDENCE - ELECTRIC LIGHT ASSOCIATION CORRESPONDENCE - UNION AND LABOR CORRESPONDENCE - EMPLOYEE AND PERSONNEL CORRESPONDENCE - WORLD WAR I CORRESPONDENCE - MISCELLANEOUS TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. RATE INFORMATION NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABSTRACTS HENRY L. DOHERTY TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. HISTORY AND DATA MOTOR VEHICLES AND HIGHWAYS HALLER CAR & LOCOMOTIVE CORPORATION JITNEY BUSSES COMMUNITY TRACTION COMPANY LAKE ERIE PARK CASINO TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. ACME POWER STATION TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. PAYROLLS AND WAGES TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. EMPLOYEE WELFARE TOLEDO RAILWAYS & LIGHT CO. MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF OHIO ANNUAL REPORTS PUCO ANNUAL REPORTS OF FATAL ACCIDENTS MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS MORTGAGE - TOLEDO & MAUMEE VALLEY RAILWAY CO. AGREEMENTS - AMERICAN WHEELOCK ENGINE CO. AGREEMENTS - TOLEDO GAS & ELECTRIC HEAT CO. CONTRACTS - CARS CONTRACTS - MISCELLANEOUS PETITIONS TRADEMARK MISCELLANEOUS LEGAL BILLS AND RECEIPTS NOTES TOLEDO TRACTION COMPANY FINANCIAL RECORDS TOLEDO TRACTION, LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY BOND INFORMATION MISCELLANEOUS FINANCIAL SCRAPBOOKS AND SCRAPBOOK MATERIAL NEWS CLIPPINGS SCRAPBOOK MAPS, CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, GRAPHS, LISTS, ETC. BUILDING PLANS PROPERTY PLANS MAGAZINES - DOHERTY DAILY NEWS MAGAZINES - SPARKS MAGAZINES - TOLEDO CRITIC BOOKS PHOTOGRAPHS TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY CORRESPONDENCE - MISCELLANEOUS INTEROFFICE MEMORANDA - LIBRARY SURVEYS NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABSTRACTS TOPICAL FILES STOCK QUOTATION NOTES DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS - TOLEDO & INDIANA RAILROAD CO. COMPANY LIBRARY RESOURCES BIOGRAPHICAL FILES MANAGEMENT FILES PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF OHIO ANNUAL REPORTS ANNUAL REPORT TO STOCKHOLDERS BALANCE SHEET REPORTS AUDIT AND ANNUAL REPORT DATA ANNUAL REPORTS - CITIES SERVICE COMPANY ANNUAL REPORTS - OTHER COMPANIES ANNUAL REPORTS - MISC. POWER AND RAIL COMPANIES OTHER MISCELLANEOUS REPORTS RESEARCH NOTES AND HISTORIES SPEECHES AGREEMENTS BRIEFS DEEDS UNIFORM CLASSIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS TOLEDO EDISON AUDIT REPORTS AND STATEMENTS OTHER COMPANY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS MISCELLANEOUS FINANCIAL SCRAPBOOKS AND SCRAPBOOK MATERIALS NEWSCLIPPINGS SCRAPBOOKS MAPS, CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, GRAPHS, LISTS, ETC. MAPS CHARTS DIAGRAMS PAMPHLETS FLYERS/BROADSIDES PROGRAMS BOOKLETS BOOKS TOLEDO EDISON/CENTERIOR PERIODICALS PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS - BAYSHORE PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS - OTHER PLANTS, EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS - INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS - MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVES/SCANS PLAQUES |
Inventory | Toledo Railways and Light Company Box 1: Proceedings, Correspondence Folder
Box 2: Correspondence Folder
Box 3: Correspondence Folder
Box 4: Correspondence Folder
Folder
Box 6: Subject Files Folder
Folder
Box 8: Reports, Legal Documents Folder
Box 9: Legal Documents Folder
Box 10: Legal Documents, Financial Documents Folder
Folder
Folder
Box 13: Printed Material, Photographs Folder
Toledo Edison Company Box 14: Correspondence, Subject Files Folder
Box 15: Subject Files Folder
Box 16: Subject Files Folder
Folder
Box 18: Reports Folder
Box 19: Reports Folder
Box 20: Reports, Literary Productions Folder
Box 21: Literary Productions, Legal Documents Folder
Folder
Box 23: Financial Documents Folder
Box 24: Financial Documents Folder
Box 25: Scrapbook Materials, Maps, Printed Materials Folder
Box 26: Newcomen Society Publications Folder
Box 27: Printed Materials Folder
Box 28 Folder
Box 29: Printed Materials Folder
Folder
Box 31: Photographs Folder
Box 32: Photographs Folder
Box 33: Oversize Flat, Artifacts
|