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Finding aid of South Riverside Land and Water Company records
mssSouth Riverside Land and Water Company records  
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Collection Details
 
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  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Historical Note
  • Scope and Content
  • Library of Congress Authority Headings

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: South Riverside Land and Water Company records.
    Dates: 1774-1960
    Bulk dates: 1887-1920
    Collection Number: mssSouth Riverside Land and Water Company records
    Creator: South Riverside Land and Water Company
    Extent: 13,348 items in 36 boxes and 35 volumes
    Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department
    1151 Oxford Road
    San Marino, California 91108
    Phone: (626) 405-2191
    Email: reference@huntington.org
    URL: http://www.huntington.org
    Abstract: This collection consists of records concerning the development and business of the South Riverside Land and Water Company.
    Language of Material: The records are in English.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    The collection is open for qualified researchers.

    Publication Rights

    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.

    Preferred Citation

    [Item], South Riverside Land and Water Company records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

    Acquisition Information

    Purchased from Jim Ducote, November 4, 1969.

    Historical Note

    In 1886, developer Robert Taylor persuaded his partners, Adolph Rimpau, George L. Joy, A. S. Garretson, a Sioux City banker, and ex-governor of Iowa, Samuel Merrill to form the South Riverside Land and Water Company. Together they raised approximately $110,000 to purchase approximately 12,000 acres of good agricultural land. Taylor realized the importance of water for the soon to be developed community, and additional funds were used to ensure that sufficient water rights were obtained. Taylor hired Anaheim engineer H. C. Kellogg to design a circular Grand Boulevard three miles round. To the north along the railroad tracks were the manufacturing plants and packing houses. The southern end of town was left to the citrus industry. Presently this land is known as the City of Corona. As a citrus growers' organization, the company purchased the lands of Rancho La Sierra of Bernardo Yorba, and the Rancho Temescal grant and the colony of South Riverside was laid out. They also secured the water rights to Temescal Creek, its tributaries and Lee Lake. Dams and pipelines were built to carry the water to the colony. In 1889 the Temescal Water Company was incorporated, to supply water for the new colony. This company purchased all the water-bearing lands in the Temescal valley and began drilling artesian wells.

    Scope and Content

    The documents provide insight into the business history and practices of the South Riverside Land and Water Company as well as the Jameson Packing House, which shipped citrus fruit, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
    The Business Records, the largest series of the collection, with 9,638 items, is arranged alphabetically by folder title and then by date where applicable and includes banking records; bills of lading; blueprints; checkbooks, check stub books, and checks; contracts; daily reports of the fruit; ephemera; financial records; freight bills; inventories and inventories of fruit; land surveys; legal documents; maps; receipts; stock certificates; tax records; deeds from states such as Colorado, Florida, and Iowa; sales records, primarily of Queen Colony Fruit Exchange document fruit was shipped to Toledo, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburg, Boston, Sioux City, Cincinnati, Omaha, Buffalo, Spokane, St. Louis, Calgary, Oklahoma City, Peoria, Vancouver, Milwaukee, Butte, Des Moines, Cleveland, Kansas City, Wichita, Seattle, Denver, Regina, Louisville, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Grand Rapids, Winnipeg, Baltimore, San Antonio, Albany, Columbus, Sacramento, Scranton, Waterloo, and Detroit; shipping records; records of fruit treatment; logs of temperature and meter readings for fruit; and time books.
    The Correspondence series contains 3,613 items. Most of the correspondence is business related with many inquiries from potential customers wishing to purchase land. The majority of the correspondence has been arranged by the author’s last name or the name of the company from which the correspondence was sent. Some correspondence was batched together alphabetically if there were fewer than two items from the same author or if the complete signature was indistinguishable. Correspondence was noted from the following locations: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Washington, B.C. Vancouver, and Winnipeg Canada, and includes many law offices, newspapers for which the company often advertised in, and county records including deeds, taxes, and correspondence to county officials. In addition, there are numerous documents from banks regarding their business finances and letters from various fruit companies and railroads discussing shipping. Some of the notable clients and companies include Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Company; California Fruit Agency; California Fruit Growers Exchange; Foltz, Clara Shortridge, 1849-1934; Huntington, Henry Edwards, 1850-1927; Lemon Administrative Committee; and Southern Pacific Railroad Company.
    The 35 volumes include fruit logbooks, fruit shipping records, cashbooks, account books, ledgers, letter books, and an account journal.

    Arrangement

    The collection is organized in the following series:
    • Business Records (Boxes 1-23)
    • Correspondence (Boxes 24-35)
    • Oversized Boxes (Boxes 36-37)
    • Volumes

    Library of Congress Authority Headings

    Personal and Corporate Names

    American Central Insurance Company
    American Home Missionary Society
    Beasley, T. D. (Thomas Dykes)
    Bordentown Military Institute
    California Fruit Agency
    California Fruit Growers Exchange
    Canadian Pacific Railway Company
    California. Secretary of State
    Chase Nursery Company
    Citrus Protective League of California
    D.M. Osborne and Co.
    Davidson, J. M. (James McDermitt), b. 1853
    Fairbanks, Morse and Company
    Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles
    Fire Association of Philadelphia
    First National Bank of San Diego
    Foltz, Clara Shortridge, 1849-1934
    Goodhue County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute (Goodhue County, Minn.)
    Hall, Wm. Ham. (William Hammond)
    Harper and Brothers
    Harper and Reynolds Corporation
    Hilgard, Eugene W. (Eugene Woldemar), 1833-1916
    Huntington, Henry Edwards, 1850-1927
    Illinois Central Railroad Company
    Illinois State Medical Society
    Iowa. General Assembly. House of Representatives
    Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway
    Lemon Administrative Committee
    Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company
    Michigan Central Railroad Company
    Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company
    Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York
    New York Life Insurance Company
    National Transit Company (U.S.)
    Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
    Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society (Firm)
    Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company
    Pacific States Telephone and Telegraph Company
    Phoenix Insurance Company (Hartford, Conn.)
    Remington Typewriter Company
    Riverside County (Calif.). Office of the Assessor
    San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad Company
    Singer Manufacturing Company
    Southern Pacific Railroad Company
    South Riverside Land and Water Company
    Standard Oil Company of California
    Times Mirror Company
    Title Guarantee and Trust Company (Los Angeles, Calif.)
    United States. Dept. of the Interior.
    United States. General Land Office
    University of Wisconsin. Agricultural Experiment Station
    Wabash Railroad
    Wells, Fargo and Company

    Subjects

    California -- History -- 20th Century -- Sources.
    Fruit trade -- California.
    Real property -- California -- Riverside County.

    Geographic Areas

    Corona (Calif.)

    Genre

    Letters (correspondence) -- United States
    Shipping records -- United States