00901.xml Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.): An Inventory of Its Records at the Minnesota Historical Society Finding aid prepared by staff. Northwest Area Foundation, the Grotto Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation. Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul, MN.

Manuscripts Collection

 Finding aid encoded by Sara J. Stambaugh, June 2011-June 2012. Finding aid written in English OVERVIEW Minnesota Historical Society Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.). Great Northern Railway Company records. 1854-1970. Materials in English. The corporate records of the St. Paul-based Great Northern Railway, its predecessors, and its subsidiaries and affiliates, document its operations across the northern tier of western states for more than one hundred years, until its 1970 merger with the Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and the Spokane, Portland and Seattle that formed the Burlington Northern. Approximately 4900 cubic feet. See Detailed Description for shelf locations. SCOPE AND CONTENTS

The Great Northern Railway Company included not only the parent corporation, but also more than 300 branch lines and subsidiary companies that it either wholly or partly owned. Many were owned and operated jointly by the by Northern Pacific and Great Northern.

Minutes, reports, correspondence and subject files, financial and accounting records, photographs, engineering drawings, land records, engineering and valuation records, advertising literature, timetables, publications, and many other materials documenting the principal staff and operating departments. Those include the offices of the president, secretary, treasurer, and comptroller; the law and land departments; mechanical and chief engineers; public relations and personnel officers; and managers responsible for rail operations.

Of special importance are the President's Office subject files, comprising 1,000 feet of executive correspondence, reports, statistical data, maps, drawings, and printed matter compiled to keep top officials informed on important current and past activities. They provide the best summary available of the company's experience over time.

In addition to the main line materials are records of more than 250 branch lines, subsidiaries, and related companies. They include rail and highway transport, oil and mineral, land and townsite, power, irrigation, steamship, lumbering, and stock-holding firms dispersed geographically from the Great Lakes to Puget Sound.

 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Great Northern Railway Company records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: Many, see individual series inventories and Great Northern accession files.

 Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 1735140

Work on the Great Northern railway company records was supported with funds by the Northwest Area Foundation, the Grotto Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation.

 RELATED MATERIALS

Records of the Northern Pacific Railway Company are also available at the Minnesota Historical Society.

 CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Railroads -- Northwestern States. Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Design and construction. Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Management. Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Branch lines. Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Finance. Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Rolling-stock. Railroads -- Northwestern States -- Statistics. Railroad land grants. Railroads and state. Railroads -- Mergers -- Northwestern States. Railroads -- Valuation -- Northwestern States. Railroads -- Freight -- Rates -- Northwestern States. Persons: Budd, John Marshall, 1907-1979. Budd, Ralph, 1879-1962. Dalrymple, F. Stewart, 1882-1933. Gavin, Frank J. Hidy, Muriel. Hidy, Ralph Willard, 1905- Hill, James Jerome, 1838-1916. Hill, Louis Warren, 1872-1948. Kenney, William P., 1870-1939. Winchell, Horace V. (Horace Vaughn), 1865-1923. Organizations: Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.). Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Accounting. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Agricultural Development Dept. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Comptroller. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Engineering Dept. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Finance. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Immigration and Agricultural Development Dept. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Industrial Development Dept. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Legal Dept. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Management. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Mineral Research and Development Dept. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Minot Division. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Passenger Traffic Dept. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Personnel records. Great Northern Railway Company (U.S.) -- Secretary records. Canadian Northern Railway Company. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company. Kootenai Valley Railroad Company. Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway. Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway. St. Paul and Duluth Railroad Company. St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway Company. Document Types: Advertisements. Architectural drawings. Legal files. Letterpress copybooks. Maps. Photographs. Technical drawings. Occupations: Chief executive officers. Executives -- Northwestern States. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following listings link to detailed finding aids for each of the collection's 17 series.

Advertising and Publicity Department Records, 1884-1973. 147 cubic feet. Records created or compiled by the Great Northern administrative unit responsible for managing corporate advertising and public relations work. Agricultural Development Department Records, 1913-1968. 43 cubic feet. Subject files, and crop reports and summaries, created by the Great Northern administrative department responsible for improving agricultural practices and developing agricultural production throughout the northwestern states. Comptroller Records, 1879-1973. 485 cubic feet. Correspondence and subject files, annual reports to regulatory agencies, accounting records, operating statistical data, construction records, and miscellaneous records created or compiled by the Great Northern administrative department responsible for the accounting, auditing, and statistical analysis functions of the railway company, and which also served as the corporation's principal record keeper. Engineering Department Records, 1882-1970. 105 cubic feet. Correspondence and subject files, maps, architectural drawings, and construction project registers and indexes documenting the activities of the Great Northern administrative department responsible for locating, surveying, constructing, and maintaining roadways and structures. Industrial Development Department Records, [195-]-[196-]. 4 cubic feet. Research reports, promotional brochures, and site photographs produced by the Great Northern administrative department responsible for attracting and managing industrial development within and along its right-of-way throughout the northwestern states. Land Department Records, 1867-1970 (bulk 1990-1940). 20 cubic feet. Various series of records documenting the disposition and management of land tracts in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington that were owned by Great Northern. Law Department Records, 1877-1970. 79 cubic feet. Printed court case reports (1877-1963), legal case files (1923-1971), and merger files (1957-1968) documenting the legal affairs of the Great Northern and the activities of its law department. Mechanical Department Records, 1879-1969. 127.5 cubic feet. Mechanical drawings and other records relating to the Great Northern fleet of cars and locomotives. Operating Department (general manager) Records, 1874-1969. 90 cubic feet. Correspondence and subject files, and a few miscellaneous records, created or compiled by the Great Northern administrative department responsible for operating the physical properties of the Great Northern railway system. Personnel Department Records, 1890s. 17 cubic feet. Selected personnel files created by Great Northern during the first decade of its corporate existence, which document the hiring and service of many of its earliest employees. The sequence includes file numbers 1-1532 and 1680-1927. The files typically contain application forms and letters, internal memoranda about the employee or prospect, performance data, and service records. Presidents Records, 1872-1970. 25 cubic feet. Correspondence and subject files, letterpress books, miscellaneous operating statistics (1946-1968), notes and manuscripts on Great Northern history, and other materials created by the Great Northern president's office. Presidents Subject Files, 1890-1970. 1250 cubic feet. Correspondence and subject files, letterpress books, miscellaneous operating statistics (1946-1968), notes and manuscripts on Great Northern history, and other materials created by the Great Northern president's office. Nos. 1-7085. Nos. 7086-12,950. Nos. 12,951-18,363. Right-of-way, Land and Tax Department Records, 1857-1969 (bulk 1880-1920). 49.5 cubic feet. Correspondence and subject files (1857-1969), property tax records, records of easements and permits granted, and land and timber examination files created by the Great Northern administrative department responsible for managing the company's right-of-way property. Secretary's Records, 1873-1970. 57 cubic feet. Minute books (1889-1970) and related records, annual reports to stockholders (1890-1968), printed system maps (1891-1929), historical sketches and data, and corporate bylaws created or compiled by the office of the Great Northern corporate secretary. Traffic Department Records, 1898-1951. 60 cubic feet. Several series of correspondence and subject files and a volume (1898-1899) of monthly commission statements documenting work of the Great Northern administrative department responsible for developing and managing the railway's freight and passenger traffic. Treasurer's Records, 1888-1956. 31.5 cubic feet. Stock and bond records (1889-1957), railway operating reports (1888-1956), and cash books (1901-1921) created or compiled by the Great Northern administrative department responsible for managing corporate financing monies and related activities. Valuation Department Records, 1881-1991 (bulk 1915-1928). 79.65 cubic feet. Reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission's Bureau of Valuation, ICC hearing records and related files, right-of-way and trackage maps, and track profiles produced or maintained by the Great Northern administrative unit responsible for tracking and reporting on the monetary value (cost of reproduction) of the Great Northern's physical properties and those of its subsidiaries. Branch Lines.

The branch lines and their records are described in our library catalog.

Fuller inventories are available at the Minnesota Historical Society library.