The Gerald E. Brookins Collection

The Gerald E. Brookins Collection captures the rich history of streetcars, interurbans, railroads, and everyday life in Cleveland through photographs and related materials. At its heart is Brookins’ vision behind "Trolleyville, U.S.A." (also known as the Gerald E. Brookins Museum of Electric Railways) a unique streetcar operation in Olmsted Township, Ohio that brought transit history to life.

Alongside documentation of Trolleyville, the collection features materials Brookins gathered over decades, including the Morris Stone model streetcar collection and a significant group of photographs attributed to noted transit historian Harry Christiansen. It also includes materials related to the history of trolleys and trolley companies, such as company records, car and station blueprints and drawings, and personal letters, records, and scrapbooks created by Brookins and Christiansen, as well as ticket stubs and track maps. Additional materials include photographs of streetcars (both original prints and reprints) and objects such as depot signs, conductors’ tools, and postcards.

Together, these materials offer a vivid look at the region’s transportation heritage and the people who preserved it.

The collection was generously donated to Special Collections at the Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University, by the Lake Shore Electric Railway Association, successor to Trolleyville, and by Brookins’ son, Gary Brookins, in tribute to his parents.