Biography/History:

The Pearl River Valley Railroad Company was incorporated on May 22, 1917. Its purpose was to provide a railway line from Nicholson, Pearl River County, Mississippi, to Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi. The members of the board of directors in 1923 were: R. L. Emory, president; P. V. Rowlands, vice-president and general manager; and Robert Howell Crosby, secretary-treasurer. Approximately twenty-five miles of track had been laid from Nicholson to Crosby, Amite County, Mississippi, by December 31, 1923. The general offices of the company were located at Goodyear, Pearl River County, in 1924. The general offices were relocated to Picayune, approximately one mile south of Goodyear, in 1927. T. L. Crosby was president of the company in 1968. Stewart Gammill III was president of the company by 1991. The company was still in operation in March of 2002.

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of general office files, minute books, annual reports, financial records, freight books, index cards, miscellaneous business papers, printed materials, and newsclippings of the Pearl River Valley Railroad Company, which date from 1915 to 1971. The first forty boxes contain files from the general offices of the company, while boxes forty-one through one hundred twenty-three contain the remainder of the collection. For a list of the contents of boxes forty-one through one hundred twenty-three, please see appendix one.

Series Identification:

1. General Office Files. 1917-1971. 40 boxes.

   This series consists of general office files, which mainly concern day-to-day railroad operations. They are arranged first by series number and then by section number, each corresponding to specific topics or subtopics. Included are accident reports, job applications, claims, equipment maintenance and inspection reports, publicity, shipping rates, and tariffs.

   Boxes 1-40

2. Minute Books. 1917-1956. 2 boxes.

   This series consists of minutes of board meetings from 1917 to 1918 and from 1926 to 1956. Also included is a scrapbook (1919-1925), which contains minutes of board meetings and bylaws of the company.

   Boxes 48-49

3. Annual Reports. 1917-1967. 10 boxes.

   This series consists of annual reports that the company submitted to the Interstate Commerce Commission from 1917 to 1967, along with office copies of annual reports to the Mississippi Railroad Commission from 1919 to 1964.

   Boxes 50-59

4. Financial Records. 1917-1970. 40 boxes.

   This series is divided into the following subseries: Financial reports, financial statements, valuation reports, cashbooks, vouchers, ledgers, and miscellaneous records.

   4.1. Financial Reports. 1918-1969. 10 boxes.

   This subseries consists of audit reports from 1918 to 1957. There are also excess-earnings reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission from 1920 to 1934; reports to the Mississippi Tax Commission from 1926 to 1969; and reports to the board of directors from 1964 to 1968. An appraisal report from 1919 is included.

   Boxes 60-69

   4.2. Financial Statements. 1919-1950. 4 boxes.

   This subseries consists of monthly financial statements from 1919 to 1950. Included are statements concerning income, profit and loss, investments, and operating revenues. General balance sheets are also included.

   Boxes 98-101

   4.3. Valuation Reports. 1919-1952. 4 boxes.

   This subseries consists of valuation reports to the Interstate Commerce Commission from 1919 to 1930. Also included are valuation summaries from 1919 to 1952 and valuation orders from 1926 to 1939.

   Boxes 72-75

   4.4. Cashbooks. 1917-1970. 12 boxes.

   This subseries consists of cash-disbursement books from 1917 to 1970 and agents’ cashbooks from 1919 to 1959. Also included are cash receipts from 1920 to 1958 and a station cashbook from 1948 to 1949.

   Boxes 83; 102-111; 123

   4.5. Vouchers. 1917-1963. 4 boxes.

   This subseries consists of audited vouchers from 1917 to 1919 and voucher registers from 1920 to 1963.

   Boxes 84-87

   4.6 Ledgers. 1917-1956. 10 boxes.

   This subseries consists of ledgers from 1917 to 1956. Of interest are two ledgers, one a record of property changes from 1917 to 1936, and the other from the Picayune Building and Loan Association dating from 1921 to 1930. Also included are petty-cash ledgers from 1919 to 1933 and net-income ledgers from 1924 to 1930 and from 1938 to 1940.

   Boxes 112; 115-123

   4.7. Miscellaneous Records. 1917-1968. 9 boxes.

   This subseries consists of miscellaneous financial records. Included are trial balances from 1918 to 1951; authority for expenditures from 1919 to 1949; general balances and claims from 1928 to 1934, and individual and corporate classifications of general balance sheet accounts. There are books containing stock subscriptions (1917) and stock certificates; registered bills from 1921 to 1960; and commodities statements from 1963 to 1968.

   Boxes 71; 74; 80-83; 87-88; 122

5. Freight Books. 1920-1958. 8 boxes.

   This series consists of abstracts of freight delivered and records of freight received at stations along the Pearl River Valley Railroad Company line, particularly at the Goodyear and Nicholson stations in Pearl River County, Mississippi.

   Boxes 90-97

6. Index Cards. ca. 1928-1962. 3 boxes.

   This series consists of alphabetically arranged index cards that contain the names and addresses of agents, clients, and vendors.

   Boxes 41-43

7. Business Papers (Miscellaneous). 1919-1949. 9 boxes.

   This series consists of land records and reports, roadway-completion reports, engineering reports, and original working papers. Also included are journal entries, structural and roadway-branch notes, bridge records, and work orders of the Goodyear Yellow Pine Company. Of interest are the railroad notebooks that include surveys of bridges, cross-sections, and trestles. An index accompanies the notebooks.

   Boxes 70-71; 74; 76-78; 114-115; 122

8. Printed Materials. 1917-1943. 3 boxes.

   This series consists of printed and typescript copies of the Pearl River Valley Railroad Company charter, including amendments, bylaws, and rights-of-way. There are also pamphlets containing federal and Mississippi tax laws and rules of practice before the Interstate Commerce Commission. A sample forms packet illustrating the preferred methods of recording railway and equipment projects is included.

   Boxes 46-47; 49

9. Newsclippings. ca. 1955-1958. 2 boxes.

   This series consists of newsclippings concerning segregation. Railroad cashier A. H. Knight apparently collected them in the 1950s.

   Boxes 44-45