L.P. Allen Collection of Railroad Labor Payrolls, 1839-1890
Collection Number: 5483

Inclusive date range: 1839-1890

Bulk dates: 1845-1888

This collection consists of the financial records such as payrolls, stock certificates, cancelled checks, payments received, and paid receipts, from historic railroads in the Massachusetts and Rhode Island areas around Boston and Providence. The records come from the Old Colony Railroad and its predecessor railroads. They were collected by L. P. Allen of Boston, Massachusetts and donated to the Kheel Center in 1975.

These records are an excellent resource for the study of early railroad development in North America. The various financial data found in this collection amply document the types of supplies, and their cost, which were used to construct these early railroads. Invoices include supplies like sperm whale oil, as well as coal and pig iron. The records also show how railroads initially made the majority of their profit off of passenger travel, such as in the 1845 financial reports, in which the revenue from passenger traffic is roughly three time greater than that for freight traffic. The financial statements from the second half of the 19th Century show the reverse, demonstrating the changing nature of the railroading business. The freight and passenger balances from 1888 reflect this change. Additionally, the greater scope of the business is shown by these records as well. The invoices from the early and mid-19th Century are records of business done on a local and regional scale. By 1888, the invoices and accounts paid include businesses from all over the continental United States, illustrating how quickly the railroads were able to span distances and communities that were unimaginable just fifty years previous.