Abstract:

Cape Charles was established in 1884 as the southern terminus of the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad. The collection consists of photographs showing the early development of Cape Charles. Views of the wharf and harbor areas and the steamship "Cape Charles" built by Harlin and Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware, comprise nearly half the collection.

Scope and Content: The portion of the shipbuilding records dealing with the Harlan Plant has been divided into two parts. The first is a fragmentary group of corporate records, and the second and major part is a group of construction documents and drawings.The corporate records consist of the directors' minutes of the Harlan & Hollingsworth Corporation (1905-1917) and some miscellaneous files. The so-called Treasurer's File contains copies of correspondence collected by the Treasurer's office of the Steel Corporation. The original arrangement and file numbers of that office have been retained. The principal correspondents are John McGregor and A. T. Rush, Assistant Treasurers, and B. H. Jones, Secretary-Treasurer of the Steel Corporation on the one hand, and Henry S. Snyder, S. K. Smith, and Henderson Weir, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, and Secretary, respectively, of the Harlan & Hollingsworth Corporation on the other. Other important correspondents include Oliver Wren and J. D. Hagenbuch of Charles M. Schwab's office, and Archibald Johnston, Chairman of the Board; William Griscom Coxe, President: and Persifor Frazer, Jr., Vice President, of Harlan & Hollingsworth. Most of the correspondence is of a routine nature concerning board meetings, orders. etc., and it includes as well several manuscript annual reports. Several files document negotiations with banks for two loans, the 6 percent Gold Notes of 1907, and the 6 percent Debenture Gold Bonds of 1912.The bulk of the collection is made up of construction records which fall into three series. The printed specification books were issued to the clients and to each of the plant departments. This was a contract document specifying exactly what was to be built: the size of the ship, the materials, and all the appointments. In many cases, handwritten or pasted-in amendments were made while construction was under way and, in this event. more than one copy has been retained. The specification books also frequently contain pencilled notations as to date of launch and date of delivery.The cost books are ledgers arranged by job number which summarize all material and labor costs by department. They provide a series on local construction materials costs for nearly a forty-year period.The last series consists of construction drawings, in most cases a complete set of plans, sections, elevations, structurals, and details. While perhaps most useful to modelmakers, they...