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Spreckels Sugar Company Collection
D-322  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • History
  • Scope and Content
  • Related Collections
  • Access
  • Processing Information
  • Preferred Citation
  • Publication Rights

  • Language of Material: English
    Contributing Institution: University of California, Davis General Library, Dept. of Special Collections
    Title: Spreckels Sugar Company Collection
    Creator: Spreckels Sugar Company
    Identifier/Call Number: D-322
    Physical Description: 1 linear foot
    Date (inclusive): 1897-1980
    Abstract: Annual agricultural reports and reports of the experiment station of a sugar beet refiner formerly located in Salinas, California. Also includes United States Sugar Manufacturers' Association leaflets and reports; USDA reports on the beet-sugar industry; and one twentieth-century pamphlet on the beet sugar industry.
    Physical Location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.

    History

    In 1881, businessman Claus Spreckels (1828-1908) founded Spreckels Sugar Company in California's San Joaquin Valley. Spreckels had already been involved in sugar refining for some years; his California Sugar Refinery processed sugar cane imported from Hawaii, the Philippines, China, Java. The company he founded in the San Joaquin Valley, however, focused on refining sugar beets. Claus Spreckels founded the company town of Spreckels just south of Salinas, California, where the company's factory was located. At first, many of the sugar beets came from farms in Woodland, California, but later came from company-founded farms in King City, Soledad, and Hollister.
    After Claus Spreckels' death in 1908, his son Adolph B. Spreckels took on the management of the company. In 1963, the family ultimately sold the company to the American Refining Company (AMSTAR). Today, Spreckels Sugar Company is a subsidiary of Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative.
    Sources:
    Spreckels Sugar Company History
    http://www.spreckelssugar.com/history.php
    (Accessed 19 November 2009)
    Collins, Allen. "The Spreckels Era in Rio Del Mar, 1872-1922."
    http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/407/
    (Accessed 19 November 2009)
    Spreckels Sugar Company
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreckels_Sugar_Company
    (Accessed 19 November 2009)

    Scope and Content

    This collection includes: annual reports of the Spreckels Sugar Company's experiment station (1909-1912); company agricultural reports (1919); United States Sugar Manufacturers' Association leaflets and reports (1916-1931); USDA reports on the beet-sugar industry (1897); and one twentieth-century pamphlet on the beet sugar industry.

    Related Collections

    The following collections at Special Collections may also be of interest:
    D-116, F. Hal Higgins Papers, 1886-1975. This collection contains manuscripts and research notes about agricultural machinery in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
    D-119, Oscar M.F. Nelson Papers, 1923-1938. This collection contains drawings and manuscripts pertaining to sugar and refining methods.
    D-494, Floyd Halleck Higgins Photographs of Mexican Sugar Beet Workers, 1942. This collection contains photographs of work and daily life of Mexican sugar beet workers in California.
    MC031, Walter H. Ziegler Papers, 1881-1962. This collection contains photographs, reports, company histories, and correspondence pertaining to Alvarado Sugar Beet Factory, in Soquel, Santa Cruz County and Holly Sugar Co., in Grand Junction, Colorado.
    The following collections at other institutions may also be of interest:
    MS282, Spreckels Sugar Company Collection. Located at the University of the Pacific, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections.
    BANC MSS C-G 190, Spreckels Financial Papers, 1880-1944. Located at the University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library.

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Processing Information

    Elizabeth Phillips, Manuscript Archivist, processed the collection and created the finding aid.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Spreckels Sugar Company Collection, D-322, Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis.

    Publication Rights

    Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17, of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections, University of California, Library, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Sugar beet industry -- California
    Spreckels Sugar Company--Archives.