Records of the Interstate Commerce Commission [ICC]

OVERVIEW OF RECORDS LOCATIONS

Table of Contents

• 134.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY
• 134.2 GENERAL RECORDS 1887-1979
• 134.3 RECORDS OF THE OPERATING DIVISION 1887-1988
• 134.4 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF TRAFFIC 1887-1982
• 134.5 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF VALUATION 1910-74
• 134.6 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF ENFORCEMENT 1961-70
• 134.7 CASE FILES 1887-1955
• 134.8 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)
• 134.9 MACHINE-READABLE RECORDS (GENERAL) 1983-91
• 134.10 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL) 1889-96

134.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: As an independent agency by the Interstate Commerce Act (24 Stat. 379), February 4, 1887.

Functions: Regulates carriers engaged in transportation in interstate commerce and in foreign commerce within the United States.

Finding Aids: Forrest R. Holdcamper, Leo Pascal, and Charlotte M. Ashby, comps., "Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the Interstate Commerce Commission," NC 59 (May 1964).

Abolished: Effective December 29, 1995, by 109 Stat. 932.

Successor Agencies: Surface Transportation Board, Department of Transportation.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Interstate Commerce Commission in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

134.2 GENERAL RECORDS
1887-1979

Textual Records: Official minutes of the ICC, 1887-1978, with a card index to subjects. Decisions and reports of the ICC, 1887- 88. Albums of subject-arranged clippings from commission annual reports, 1887-1930. Minutes of meetings held outside Washington, DC, August 6, 1897-June 1, 1900. Minutes of hearings in the coal and oil investigation and the grain investigation, 1906-9. Numbered memorandums of the general counsel, March 1914-November 1962. Correspondence exchanged between the public and President Franklin D. Roosevelt or his personal secretary, Louis M. Howe, relating principally to the nation's railroads, March-April 1933. Records relating to the registration of rate conferences, 1943. Plans for the reorganization of bankrupted companies, ca. 1939- 46. Registrations of claims resulting from the April 16-17, 1947, explosion and fire in Texas City, TX, 1947. Order books, April 1887-April 1905. Cashbook, April 1887-July 1894. Miscellaneous records relating to the history of the ICC, 1887-1967. Press releases, 1959-79. Records of the Interstate Commerce Commission Relief Association, including minutes of meetings; reports of the treasurer, auditing committee, and secretary; original and revised constitutions; account books; and miscellaneous records relating to finances and membership, 1898-1949. Minutes of Bureau of Motor Carriers district director conferences, 1937-56.

134.3 RECORDS OF THE OPERATING DIVISION
1887-1988

Textual Records: General files, including correspondence of the chairman, commissioners, secretary, and the Operating Division, 1887-1906, with an index. Letters sent to the White House, Members of Congress, heads of federal agencies, state governors, and business leaders, 1887-1942. Microfilm copy of annual reports of carriers, containing data on corporate structure, finances, and activities, 1888-1914 (1,348 rolls). Annual reports of carriers, 1915-61 (2,330 ft). Index to annual reports of carriers, 1887-1988. Canceled passenger rate schedules, 1887-1935.

Microfilm Publications: T913.

134.4 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF TRAFFIC
1887-1982

Textual Records: Director's files, 1921-51. Draft orders and amendments, 1937-67. Cumulative statistical summaries, 1896- 1952. Letter book, Department of Statistics, August 1887-March 1888. Official transcripts of conferences, June 1917-August 1921. Release Rate Board numbered memorandums from the Bureau of Informal Cases to the Board of Reference, February 1917-March 1952. Numbered memorandums from the Board of Reference to the commissioners of Division 2, September 1916-November 1941. Miscellaneous letters and rulings of the Bureau of Tariffs, ca. 1908-16. Order files of the Fourth Section Board, 1911-82.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Bureau of Traffic in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government

134.5 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF VALUATION
1910-74

Textual Records: Valuation orders and related records, 1914-34. Railroad valuation records, 1910-74 (8,497 ft.). Land and appraisal records, 1921-48 (in New York).

Maps (117,750 items): Valuation section maps, 1916-19 (750 items). Railroad valuation maps, 1910-74 (117,000 items). SEE ALSO 134.8.

134.6 RECORDS OF THE BUREAU OF ENFORCEMENT
1961-70

Textual Records: Records relating to complaints of racial discrimination against motor carriers in interstate commerce, consisting primarily of investigative report case files, 1961-70, but including also correspondence and unnumbered cases, 1961-69.

134.7 CASE FILES
1887-1955

Textual Records: Case files of controversies between carriers and shippers and of cases instituted by the ICC, 1887-1952. Case files concerning investigation and suspension of carrier tariffs, 1910-34. Case files concerning ICC action on carrier requests for permission to issue bonds, make loans, effect consolidations, and engage in other financial operations, April-November 1920. Case files containing records filed under an act of March 1, 1913, relating to initial valuation of common carrier property, 1916-27, with alphabetic and numeric indexes, 1914-20. Case files concerning ICC action in setting airmail compensation, reviewing rates, and investigating charges of unfair competition, 1934-38. Case files determining the status of railway and electric railway (trolley) lines, 1934-52. Subject index to case files, 1887-1955. Selected Fourth Section dockets of carriers seeking permission to maintain higher rates at intermediate points than at more distant points, ca. 1910-72.

Maps (694 items): Separated from docketed case files, including formal cases, 1900-34 (390 items); investigation and suspense cases, 1904-33 (35 items); finance cases, 1910-41 (131 items); and a representative sample of railroad valuation cases, 1913-38 (138 items). SEE ALSO 134.8.

134.8 CARTOGRAPHIC RECORDS (GENERAL)

SEE Maps UNDER 134.5 and 134.7.

134.9 MACHINE-READABLE RECORDS (GENERAL)
1983-91

Waybill public use files, 1983-91, with supporting documentation (9 data sets).

134.10 STILL PICTURES (GENERAL)
1889-96

Posters: Broadsides advertising special excursions or excursion-type fares on the Old Colony; Pittsburgh and Lake Erie; Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg; and the Western New York and Pennsylvania railroads, which operated in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, 1889-96 (4 images).

Ordering information

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