The collection originally was in small packets of related materials which accounts for overlapping chronological sequences. It is organized by format, location, and date into Correspondence, some with Track Blueprints, Movements of Trains, Track Schedules, and various Financial Account Books, 1846-1960.
Organizational History:
The Michigan Central Railroad Company was chartered on March 28, 1846. Its purpose was to have a rail line from Detroit via Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Dexter, Jackson, Marshall, Battle Creek, and Kalamazoo to a point on or near Lake Michigan which would be accessible to steam boats on the lake. The Company’s rail lines operated in most of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula counties. By 1929 the Company’s rail lines ran from Detroit to Grand Rapids, Mackinaw City, and South Haven, Michigan; into Chicago, Illinois; Toledo, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Pennsylvania; Niagara Falls and New York State; and through Ontario found its way back to Detroit. The company grew, buying and leasing other rail lines, until some of its properties were transferred or “conveyed” in 1976 to the Consolidated Rail. The remaining properties were conveyed in 1978 to Penn Central Corporation (For further information see Michigan Railroads and Railroad Companies by Meints.)
