Over an inch of material printed on 8 ½ x 11 paper (244 pages) that is reproduced from the document prepared in accordance with the request of Valuation Order No. 20 by the Interstate Commerce Commission it was issued May 13, 1915, by C&O’s office of Valuation Committee, Richmond Va.
In 1913 the U.S. Congress mandated that all American Railroads should have a value set on them as they existed at that time. The purpose was for general taxation and to assist the Interstate Commerce Commission in its regulatory duties. To accomplish this, committees, usually consisting of mainly civil engineers, were appointed by each railroad company. These committees then did an exhaustive survey of all the property, equipment, and assets of the line and established a fair market value as of a certain date. This report was submitted to Congress and hearings were held. After this a value was set, and this became the “Date of Valuation”.
The materials pertaining to this process were deposited with the Interstate Commerce Commission and they became part of the ICC’s regulation of the railways. Most railroads continued their Valuation Departments, though on a reduced scale, as part of the road’s general engineering function. Supplemental reports were submitted to the ICC, and that body required certain standardized records. Included in the Valuation study was a Corporate History, tracing the companies and entities that formed the current company, often giving lavish detail. Standardized Valuation Maps were made for every mile of road, showing all structures, land holdings, and property of any kind. These maps formed the basis for all engineering on most railroads from that time down to the present. The “Val Maps” became indispensable parts of the C&O civil engineering, and prints were supplied to roadmasters, contractors, engineers, and anyone having interest in right-of-way or physical plant.
COHS Digital Archives
This is the Corporate History as presented in 1916. It is reproduced from a copy made in that era on a then-standard sprit duplicator. All pages are readable, but the clarity on some pages is not up to our standards. We have rendered the best possible reproduction here based on the original.
