L. M. Berry Collection of Midwest Interurban Schedules (MS-671)
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of interurban train schedules from various Midwest cities. It is divided into two series: Interurban Schedule Cards and Ohio Guide Company.
Series I: Interurban Schedule Cards, consists of interurban schedule cards for which L. M. Berry sold the advertisements. These pocket-size cards (approximately 4.5 inches by 5.5 inches) contain train schedule information (and sometimes fares) on one side and advertisements on the other side. The advertising side usually includes one large advertisement on one half, with a “business guide” (short directory) on the other half. In many cases, there are several copies of the same train schedules for a particular city and date, but the large advertisement on the back is different. All cards are being retained due to the significance of advertising sales in the history and legacy of L. M. Berry. The schedules in this series date from 1907 to 1911, with some undated.
Subseries I-A: Illinois, includes interurban schedule cards for these cities in Illinois: Aurora, Danville, Elgin, Joliet, and Springfield. Transportation lines represented include: Aurora, Elgin, and Chicago Railroad; The North-Western Line; Burlington Route; Joliet and Southern Traction Co.; Illinois Traction System; Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad; Chicago and North-Western Railroad; Elgin-Belvidere Electric Co.; Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad; Chicago and Alton Railway Co.; Michigan Central Route; Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway; Chicago and Joliet Electric Railway; Joliet and Southern Traction Co.; C. P. & St. L. (Chicago, Peoria, and St. Louis); Sangamon Valley Electric Railway; Illinois Central; B. & S.W. (Batesville and Southwestern); and C. H. & D. (Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton). Materials in this subseries date between 1908 and 1910, with some undated.
Series I-B: Indiana, includes interurban schedule cards for these cities in Indiana: Anderson, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Kokomo, Lafayette, Logansport, Marion, Muncie, Peru, South Bend, and Wabash. Transportation lines represented include: Indiana Union Traction Company; Fort Wayne and Wabash Valley Traction Co.; Ohio Electric Railway Co.; Toledo and Chicago Interurban Railway; Fort Wayne and Springfield Railway Co.; T. H. I. & E. (Terre Haute, Indianapolis, and Eastern) Traction Co.; Indianapolis and Cincinnati Traction Co.; Indianapolis, Columbus, and Southern Traction Co.; Indianapolis, Crawfordsville, and Western Traction Co.; Indiana Union Traction Co.; Indianapolis, New Castle, and Toledo Electric Railway Co.; Kokomo, Marion, and Western Traction Co.; Northern Indiana Railway; Chicago, Lake Shore, and South Bend Railway; Southern Michigan Railway; Marion, Bluffton, and Eastern Traction Co.; and Muncie and Portland Traction Co.. Materials in this subseries date between 1907 and 1911, with some undated.
Series I-C: Ohio, includes interurban schedule cards for these cities in Ohio: Columbus, Dayton, Findlay, Lima, Marion, Piqua, Springfield, and Toledo. Transportation lines represented include: Ohio Electric Railway Co.; Scioto Valley Traction Co.; Columbus, Delaware, and Marion Railway Co.; Columbus, New Albany, and Johnstown Traction Co.; Columbus, Urbana, and Western Railway Co.; Columbus Railway and Light Co.; Dayton and Xenia Transit Co.; Dayton, Covington, and Piqua Traction Co.; Western Ohio Railway Co.; Toledo Urban and Interurban Railway Co.; Toledo, Fostoria, and Findlay Railway Co.; Lima and Toledo Traction Co.; Chicago and Erie Railway; Erie Railroad; Big Four Railroad (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and St. Louis Railroad); Hocking Valley Railroad; Pennsylvania Railroad; Columbus, Marion, and Bucyrus Railway Co.; Dayton and Troy Electric Railway Co.; Springfield, Troy, and Piqua Railway Co.; Springfield and Xenia Traction Co.; Washington Traction Co.; Detroit, Monroe, and Toledo Electric Railway; Lake Shore Electric Railway Co.; Toledo and Western Railroad Co.; Maumee Valley Railways and Light Co.; Toledo, Port Clinton, and Lakeside Railway; Toledo and Indiana Railway Co.; and Toledo, Ottawa Beach, and Northern Railway. Materials in this subseries date between 1908 and 1909, with some undated.
Series I-D: Wisconsin, includes interurban schedule cards for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Transportation lines represented include: Chicago and Milwaukee Electric Railroad; M.L.H. & T. Co. (Milwaukee Light, Heat, and Traction Co.); and Milwaukee Northern Railway. Materials in this subseries are all dated 1910.
Series II: Ohio Guide Company, consists of several issues of The Official Electric Interurban Railway Guide for Dayton, Ohio, published by Berry’s Ohio Guide Company. These multi-page guides include detailed train schedule information, as well as many advertisements for Dayton-area businesses. The centerfold also includes a map showing Ohio and Indiana traction lines. Transportation lines represented include: Dayton and Troy Electric Railway Co.; Dayton, Springfield, and Xenia Southern Railway Co.; Dayton, Covington, and Piqua Traction Co.; and the Ohio Electric Railway Co. The guides date from 1910 to 1911, and 1918.
Dates
- Creation: 1907-1911, 1918
Creator
- Berry, Loren M., 1888-1980 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
There are no restrictions on access to this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
Loren Murphy Berry was born July 24, 1888, in Wabash, Indiana, to Charles and Elizabeth (Murphy) Berry. In high school, he worked as a reporter for the Wabash Plain Dealer. He was also sports editor and business manager for his high school’s monthly publication, which he started, and it was in this capacity as business manager that he made his first foray into selling advertising space.
From about 1907 to 1911, Berry sold advertising space for the interurban time tables in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. In 1910, he moved to Dayton, Ohio, in 1910, with his wife Lucille, and started a small business called the Ohio Guide Company, which focused on publishing interurban time tables and the advertisements contained therein.
Berry later focused solely on telephone directories, and this became his legacy. In Dayton in 1924, he founded L. M. Berry and Company, which would grow into one of the foremost telephone directory publishers in the United States for much of the 20th century.
Loren M. Berry married Lucille Kneipple in 1907. They had five children: Charles Robert Berry (1912-1933); Loren Murphy Berry, Jr. (1914-1986); Martha Berry (1920-2013), who married John Fraim; John William Berry (1922-1998), Sr., who later became the head of L.M. Berry & Co.; and Elizabeth Ann Berry (1924-2007), who married Donald Fox. After Lucille died in 1935, Loren married Helen Anderson (1899-1974) in 1938, and Ruth Turner (1904-2006) in 1976.
Loren M. Berry died on February 10, 1980, in Oakwood, Ohio, at the age of 91. He is buried in Dayton’s Woodland Cemetery.
Extent
2.68 linear feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The collection consists of interurban train schedules for cities in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The schedules include information about the train lines, arrival and departure times, stations, distances, and sometimes fares, as well as advertisements and often a short business directory for the particular city. The advertisements were sold by L. M. Berry, later founder of L. M. Berry and Company, an extremely successful telephone directory publishing company.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in two series and four subseries:
- Series I: Interurban Schedule Cards, 1907-1911, undated
- Subseries I-A: Illinois, 1908-1910, undated
- Subseries I-B: Indiana, 1907-1911, undated
- Subseries I-C: Ohio, 1908-1909, undated
- Subseries I-D: Wisconsin, 1910
- Series II: Ohio Guide Company, 1910-1911, 1918
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was donated to Special Collections and Archives, Wright State University Libraries, by Lauren Vore, Communications Director, The Berry Company, in July 2014.
Separated Materials
This collection was originally received as part of the L. M. Berry and Company Records. It has been separated from those records into its own collection in order to better facilitate discoverability and access.
Subject
- Ohio Guide Company (Organization)
- Title
- Guide to the L. M. Berry Collection of Midwest Interurban Schedules (MS-671)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Lisa Rickey
- Date
- 2020 Feb 20
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Special Collections Repository
Wright State University Libraries
Special Collections and Archives
3640 Colonel Glenn Hwy
Dayton OH 45435-0001 USA
937-775-2092
library-archives@wright.edu
