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Croft, Charles W. (Charles William), 1916-1996

Existence: 1916 - 1996
 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1916-10-05 - 1996-10-31

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

General Manager's files, 1922-1973

 Series
Accession: 1685Identifier: 1685-I.
Scope and Content:

Consists of documents from the files of Charles W. Croft, who was made vice president and general manager of Delaware Coach Co. in 1963. The series is divided by company or organization into six subseries, and includes documents created by the American Transit Association (Subseries A), Delaware Bus Company (Subseries B), Delaware Coach Company (Subseries C), Delaware Electric Power Company (Subseries D), Greater Wilmington Transportation Authority (Subseries E), and the Southern Pennsylvania Bus Company (Subseries F). The records range from the 1920s to the early 1970s and focus on bus and trolley coach operations rather than streetcar operations. They include various official documentation and correspondence regarding equipment purchases, fare and route changes, schedules, bus services, advertising, labor agreements, employee newsletters and photographs, reports to regulatory commissions, transit reports and studies, statistical data, financial information, promotions, and corporate papers such as by-laws and charters.

Note that the companies in this series are largely interconnected. Delaware Electric Power Co. is included in this series because it began to fade out its streetcar operations in favor of trolley coaches and bus lines. As a result, many documents in Subseries D focus on the transition from streetcar to bus services. After Delaware Electric Power Co. severed its connection with public utilities and changed its name to Delaware Coach Co. in 1941, bus lines took precedence. Delaware Bus Co. and Southern Pennsylvania Bus Co. were operating subsidiaries of Delaware Electric Power Co./Delaware Coach Co., and operated bus lines in northern Delaware and Delaware County, Pennsylvania, respectively.

Dates: 1922-1973