Arrangement note
Biographical/Historical note
Access Restrictions
Usage Restrictions
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation note
Related Archival Materials note
Scope and Contents note
Processing Information note
Title: Land Family Photographs and Records
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.319
Contributing Institution:
California State University, Chico, Special Collections, Meriam Library
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
4.0 Linear feet
8 Boxes
Date (inclusive): 1927-1957, 1987
Abstract: The collection contains the photographs and business records of Feather River Pine Mills and the Land family, including, correspondence,
financial statements, reports, and legal documents. The majority of the collection consists of photographs and negatives documenting
mill construction and logging operations of Feather River Pine Mills (FRPM), including Feather River Railroad, and the National
Wood Treating Corporation. The Land family was heavily involved in the business and operations of FRPM.
Language of Materials note: English
Alternate Form of Material: No other forms of material.
creator:
Feather River Pine Mills.
creator:
Land Family
Arrangement note
The collection has been arranged into 2 series.
Series 1: Papers Series 2: Photographs/Negatives
Note: Many of the photographs contained within the collection are duplicates of the negatives in boxes 7 and 8. All negatives
are nitrate based and for staff use only. Scanned copies are available.
Biographical/Historical note
A. H. Land was born November 24, 1866 in Concord, Virginia and died in Oroville, California on July 26, 1953. Land graduated
as a captain from the Virginia Military Institute in 1890 and taught chemistry in the science department for several years.
He was married in 1893 to Catherine Elizabeth Evans and entered the mercantile business in Bluefield, West Virginia. Holding
interest in mining and lumber at various times throughout his life, Land became president of the First National Bank of Logan,
West Virginia, and served as an assistant federal fuel officer during World War I. He served several terms as mayor of Bluefield,
West Virginia and was the manager of the opera house. Mr. and Mrs. Land had seven children, including Charles Hunter Land,
John Daniel Land, and Jacob Golden Land, all of whom were involved in Feather River Pine Mills business.
Feather River Pine Mills, Inc. was a major Northern California lumber company for a number of years. In 1920 the Hutchinson
Lumber Company (a West Virginia hardwood lumber company established in 1908 by Robert Lee Hutchinson), bought the Wheeler
timber tract northeast of Oroville. The company purchased large tracts of timber in Butte and Plumas counties in California
and began building railroad lines, sawmills a planning mill and dry kilns. An office and plant were officially operational
in Oroville in March 1922. Hutchinson Lumber Company was one of the largest lumber companies in Northern California (during
its 1925 season the company cut 100,000,000 board feet of lumber).
A. H. Land served as vice-president and treasurer at the West Virginia Corporation (Hutchinson Lumber of West Virginia) for
two years (February 1922-Feburary 1924). Land moved to Oroville in 1922 to help improve the financial situation of the company.
In 1923 at A. H. Land’s suggestion, the California operations of Hutchinson Lumber Company was reorganized and incorporated
as the Hutchinson Lumber Company of California. Land became the president and treasurer of the California Corporation and
from that point on he was completely in charge of the operation of the lumber mill and other properties of Hutchinson Lumber
of California. C. H. land, A. H. Land’s son, was given the responsibility of managing all operations and sales for Hutchinson
Lumber of California.
Financial trouble continued for Hutchinson Lumber Company and on the morning of April 22, 1927 the real and personal property
of the Hutchinson Lumber Company was offered for sale on the steps of the Butte County Courthouse in Oroville, California.
A. H. Land submitted the only bid and purchased Hutchinson Lumber on behalf of himself and a group of associates for $1,960,063.13.
Land and his partners formed a new firm in the space of a month, and incorporated it in Nevada under the name of Feather River
Pine Mills (FRPM).
In October 1927, the mill in Oroville was completely destroyed by fire. A. H. Land began to negotiate a Federal Reconstruction
Finance Corporation (RFC) loan that was approved in February of 1938, providing $385,000 for the construction of a new mill.
The Adelaide site on the outskirts of Oroville was abandoned, and the company decided to locate its operations near the town
of Feather Falls. Construction work on the mill and town site soon began, and the rehabilitation of the railroad followed
beginning in 1929. The new plant and railroad project were completed and ready for operation on July 1, 1940. Mr. Land organized
National Wood Treating Company as a subsidiary in 1947. The plant was located in South Oroville. Feather River Pine Mills
continued operations until 1955 when the Land and Cooper families sold the company to Georgia-Pacific Corporation.
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research without restriction.
Usage Restrictions
No restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Land Family
Publication Rights
The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary
property.
Preferred Citation note
Land Family Photographs and Records, MSS 319, Special Collections, Meriam Library, California State University, Chico.
Related Archival Materials note
Feather River Pine Mills Records, MSS 191, Special Collections, Meriam Library, California State University, Chico.
Scope and Contents note
The collection contains the photographs and business records of Feather River Pine Mills and the Land family, including correspondence,
auditor’s reports, appraisal reports, examination reports, inventory, balance sheets, agreements, schedules, financial statements,
income tax, employment record, proof of labor certificates, grant deed, deed of easement, newspaper clippings and a Leavers
Official Feetage Estimator booklet. The majority of the collection consists of photographs and negatives documenting mill
construction and logging operations of Feather River Pine Mills (FRPM), including Feather River Railroad, and the National
Wood Treating Corporation. The Land family was heavily involved in the business and operations of FRPM. A few of the photographs
are personal and depict the Land family.
Some of the records include materials relating to the following companies: Hutchinson Lumber Company, Monarch Lumber Company,
Ralph L. Smith Lumber Company, Olive Products Company, Western Terminals Company, S. River Timber Company, Mooney-Andrews
Lumber Company, Geo. B. Mallory Company, Spencer Candy Company, Land Nash Motor Company, Gates Hardware Store, and Hardware
Stores Corporation. Names associated with the collection include, John Daniel Land, Jacob Golden Land, Jack Land, Charles
Hunter Land, Andrew Hunter Land, Charles Everett, and C. R. Buchanan.
Processing Information note
Processing of the Land Family Photographs and Records was generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and administered
by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The [ABC repository] was awarded a Cataloging Hidden Special Collections
and Archives grant from 2010-2012, "Uncovering California's Environmental Collections," in collaboration with eight additional
special collections and archival repositories throughout the state and the California Digital Library (CDL). Grant objectives
included processing of over 33 hidden collections related to the state's environment and environmental history. The collections
document an array of important sub-topics such as irrigation, mining, forestry, agriculture, industry, land use, activism,
and research. Together they form a multifaceted picture of the natural world and the way it was probed, altered, exploited
and protected in California over the twentieth century. Finding aids are made available through the Online Archive of California
(OAC).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Feather River Pine Mills.
Feather River Railway.
Hutchinson Lumber Company.
Land Family
Land, Andrew Hunter
Land, Charles Hunter
Land, Jack
Land, Jacob Golden
Land, John Daniel
Butte County (Calif.)--Photographs.
Feather Falls (Calif.)--Photographs.
Logging--California, Northern--History.
Lumber and lumbering--California, Northern--History.
Lumber and lumbering--California--Butte County--History.
Lumber camps--California--Butte County--Photographs.
Lumbering--California, Northern--Photographs.
Moore Town (Calif.)--Photographs.
Uncovering California's Environmental Collections Project