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Dan Murphy Company records
mssMurphy
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Table of contents
Title: Dan Murphy Company records
Inclusive Dates: 1876-2005
Bulk Dates: 1922-1969
Collection Number: mssMurphy
Collector:
Dan Murphy Foundation
Extent:
24 boxes and 4 volumes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection consists of business records pertaining to the Dan Murphy Company and the Dan Murphy Foundation from 1876-2005.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information,
please go to following
web site .
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Dan Murphy Company records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Dan Murphy Foundation, November 2014.
Daniel B. Murphy was born on September 21, 1855 in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. He spent his early years in the Oklahoma oil fields
before arriving in California as an employee of the Southern Pacific railroad. In 1883, Murphy and his Irish-born partner,
Frank Monaghan, began transforming Needles railroad station into a town. They built a general store, bank and utility plants
for a population of 300 railroad men. Soon, they began to set up a business empire by securing water rights and setting up
a chain of refrigeration and ice manufacturing plants for the Santa Fe railroad. Murphy also dabbled in the mining industry
along the Colorado River. In 1894, Murphy provided financial support for the California Portland Cement Company in Colton,
California. He served as its president for 35 years. Tempted by the oil industry again, he opened the Brea Canyon Oil Company,
located in the Coyote Hills above Fullerton and in East Whittier. More than a decade later, he settled in El Segundo, which
surrounded Standard Oil refinery, helping to create another company town. From his Los Angeles office, Murphy began promoting
cement sales, which lured the influential to the blue-collared community of Colton. Murphy’s cement helped build Southwestern
monuments, ranging from Union Station in Los Angeles to Hoover Dam and the All American Canal. He passed away on September
14, 1939. At the time of his death, Murphy was president of the California Portland Cement Company and Brea Canyon Oil Company.
The Dan Murphy Company was incorporated on February 15, 1922. The Dan Murphy Foundation was established in 1957 as an independent
California non-profit corporation by Bernardine Murphy Donohue in memory of her father, Daniel Murphy. Daniel Donohue, Mrs.
Donohue’s husband, was one of the founding trustees and also served as president of the foundation from 1968 until 2008.
Boxes 1-9 consist of alphabetical files relating to Dan Murphy Company’s real estate holdings and other investments. These
files consist of business and financial records including appraisals, lease agreements, social security reports, correspondence,
memorandums, and tax returns. There are also items related to the company’s exploratory well project in Jackson County, Oklahoma
in the 1950s and 1960s.
Boxes 10-13 consist of tax bills, federal and state income tax returns relating to the Dan Murphy Company from 1940-1969.
Also in Box 13 (3) are minutes from the Directors Meetings from 1945-1969.
Boxes 14-17 consist of five cash books, two journals relating to securities, stock certificates, one stock ledger, and four
minute books.
Boxes 18-21 consist of mining claims. Murphy was the president of Ivanpah Copper Company, which was originally Cocopah Mining
Company, located in San Bernardino County, California. These mining records include cash books, ledgers, a minute book, and
miscellaneous legal documents.
Boxes 22-24 consist of former Daniel Murphy Foundation holdings, which include the Bay Shore Land Company, Brea Canyon Oil
Company, CalMat Company, and Portland Cement Company. These business records include financial documents, correspondence,
ephemera, and legal documents.
There are four oversize general ledgers from 1922-1969 housed at the end of the collection.
Cataloger's Notes:
- The original order of the collection has mostly been retained including folder titles.
- Due to the amount of material in some folders, they had to be separated. The letters “a” and “b” were designated for folders that were divided.
Murphy, Daniel
California Portland Cement Company
Calmat (Company)
Chambers Land Company
Cocopah Cooper Company
Ivanpah Copper Company
Cement industries
Investments -- California -- Los Angeles
Mines and mineral resources -- California -- San Bernardino County
Oil industries
Real property
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History
San Bernardino (Calif.)-- History
Business records
Cashbooks
Financial records
Ledgers (account books)
Legal documents
Minute books
Stock certificates
Tax returns