Abstract The Grand Rapids Railway Co. offered public transport within the city of Grand Rapids, as well as operating recreation areas such as Ramona Park. Once at the forefront of the streetcar industry, Grand Rapids Railway Co fell as a result of the Great Depression and the growth of the automobile industry. By 1935, the once modern streetcar company was phased out in favor of more cost efficient buses. In the 1937 court case, Grand Rapids Railway Co. sold it's assets and reorganized as Grand...

Abstract The Grand Rapids Railway records are primarily composed of contracts for various concessions at Ramona Park and/or Reeds Lake, at Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids, Michigan, between 1932-1950. The Company began development of Ramona Park in 1904 under President Benjamin S. Hanchett, in an effort to get more people to ride the streetcar, especially on the weekends. It retained interest in the park until it closed in 1954. The contracts found here are made between various individuals or...

Abstract

Street Railway Weekly, later Trolley Topics, was a periodical published by the Grand Rapids Railway Co., a nationally recognized leader in the street railway industry. It was designed for the use of the electric streetcar patrons of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Distributed at no cost, the pamphlet format combined jokes, facts, entertainment news and an editorial espousing the company line. The issues document the impact of the automobile and the bus on the streetcar system.