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The Municipal Street Railway System was formed in 1919 when the City purchased the rail lines of the Puget Sound Traction, Light and Power Company. The System was administered by the Department of Public Utilities until 1932 when the Department was abolished. The System was then under the authority of the Board of Public Works. By 1938, the System was archaic and bankrupt. It received a loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1939 and began a modernization program and reorganization. The new Seattle Transit System was under the direction of the Seattle Transportation Commission from 1939-1951, then the Seattle Transit Commission until 1971. The newly formed Department of Transportation operated the System until 1973 when it became part of Metro. These records are part of the Metro records located at the Regional Archives.

Correspondence and memoranda of A.W. Pierce, Superintendent of Railway.

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Miscellaneous reports and studies relating to the Municipal Street Railway System including audits, traffic counts, rider volumes, and the 1939 Beeler report on efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

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Instructions for employees relating to schedule changes, policies, etc. Includes bulletins of the Seattle Electric Company.

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Correspondence, notes, and studies relating to planning, routing, rehabilitation of the system, and trackage and equipment. These are the files of M.D. Anderberg.

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Correspondence and contracts for purchase of equipment, capital improvements, land acquisitions and extension of track. Includes some material from the Seattle Electric Company.

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Correspondence, drawings, cost estimates, and photographs relating to the removal of street railway tracks and sale of equipment.

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Property and equipment appraisals for the Seattle and Rainier Valley Railroad which became part of the City's railway system.

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