This collection comprises 3 bound, handwritten title abstracts, prepared by the Abstract and Title Insurance Company of Los Angeles, containing transcriptions of documents, dating back as early as 1868. The transcriptions are from original documents such as deeds, leases, tax assessments, and court cases with accompanying hand-drawn maps for properties that were part of Rancho Boca de la Playa and Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana presently part of Orange County, California. The fourth document is an unbound typescript copy of an 1887 title abstract for a property formerly known as the Colima Tract on the Rancho Santa Gertrudis, and was prepared by the firm of Pendleton and Williams.

The Abstract and Title Insurance Company of Los Angeles, founded in 1886, was the first corporation in the City of Los Angeles to issue certificates of titles and abstracts. The Company filled a need for a reliable institution that would provide titles and abstracts for the new landowners attracted to California by the economic boom. In 1893, prompted by a temporary collapse of the real-estate market the company merged with its only local competitor, the Los Angeles Abstract Company (founded in 1887), to create the Title Insurance and Trust Company which was incorporated the same year.

0.4 linear feet 1 box 1 digitized object

Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.

Collection open for research.