Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Claremont Heights Irrigation Company Papers, Water Resources Collection
H.Mss.0204  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Scope and Contents of the Collection
  • Organization and Arrangement
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Claremont Heights Irrigation Company Papers, Water Resources Collection
    Dates: 1909-1981 and undated
    Collection number: H.Mss.0204
    Creator: Claremont Heights Irrigation Company
    Extent: 17.8 Linear Feet (8 records boxes, 14 document boxes, 1 slim document box, 10 oversize document boxes)
    Repository: Claremont Colleges. Library. Special Collections, The Claremont Colleges Library, Claremont, CA 91711.
    Abstract: The Claremont Heights Irrigation Company was incorporated on March 14, 1913, as a mutual water company and was dissolved on August 1, 1977. Located in Claremont, California, the company provided water services for its stockholders. The collection consists of administrative files, financial records, and operational materials of the company between its founding in 1912 and its closing in 1977, with some supplemental materials dating between 1909-1981. The collection also contains materials from the Valley View Water Company and the Claremont Basin Mutual Water Company.
    Physical Location: Please consult repository.
    Language of Material: Languages represented in the collection: English.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    Collection open for research.

    Publication Rights

    All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Claremont Heights Irrigation Company Papers, , Water Resources Collection (H.Mss.0204). Special Collections and Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, CA.

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Boxes 1-20: Gift of Stanley Barnes and Claremont Heritage, 1979. Boxes 21-33: Gift of Claremont Heritage, March 2015.

    Accruals

    No additions to the collection are anticipated.

    Processing Information

    An intitial arrangement and processing for boxes 1-20 was completed by Jacque Sundstrand in November 1982, with additional processing by Russell Michalak in 2008. An addition to the collection, materials in boxes 21-33 were processed by Claremont Graduate University students for ARCH 310 in the fall of 2022. Materials were removed from their original folders and rehoused in archival folders and boxes. Folder contents were kept in original order, when possible, but some loose materials were grouped together by content to facilitate access. Harmful fasteners were removed and replaced with folded archival paper slings, materials were unfolded, and photographs were placed in mylar sleeves. Processing also included eliminating duplicate materials and rehousing oversized items in oversized folders.

    Biography / Administrative History

    The Claremont Heights Irrigation Company was founded in 1912 by the Claremont Heights Land Development Company and incorporated on March 14, 1913. The company was formed to provide the growing citrus industry in north Claremont with local water for irrigation, as well as domestic use to a lesser extent. Claremont Heights held land roughly from San Antonio Wash to the east, Pomello Drive to the north, Baseline Avenue to the south, and beyond Mills Avenue to the west. The company had long-standing relationships with businesses in Claremont, Pomona, and Los Angeles, including Pomona Valley Machine Works, Pomona Manufacturing Company, Valley View Water Company, Pacific Southwest Pipe Company, Pacific Mill and Mine Supply Company, and Neptune Meter Company. Its known mailing addresses during its years of operation were 920 Pomello Drive, Claremont, California, 91711 and 143 E. Foothill Boulevard, Pomona, California, 91767. Stanley R. Barnes (1922-2021) served as the company's final president and oversaw its sale to Southern California Water Company in August of 1977.
    Sources:
    • "Goodbye to a Water District." Claremont Courier (Claremont, CA), April 2, 1977.
    • "Back Page." Claremont Courier (Claremont, CA), August 17, 1977.

    Scope and Contents of the Collection

    Boxes 1 through 20 of the Claremont Heights Irrigation Company Papers consist of the records of the Secretary or Secretary-Treasurer, Board minutes, and other miscellaneous material related to the company. The most complete information about the Claremont Heights Irrigation Company's financial records occurs from 1927 to 1948, when Kenneth B. Forbes held the position of Secretary. Since the Company also owned water stock in other private mutual water companies, some information, such as annual reports, can also be found for the Pomona Valley Protective Association, Adams and Garner, and Claremont Basin Mutual Water Company, Ltd. The papers also reflect local business activities in Claremont, Pomona, and Los Angeles. Boxes 1 through 14 cover the years 1913 to 1916. Boxes 15 through 20, which are composed mostly of cash books, ledgers and audit reports, cover the years 1913 to 1966.
    Boxes 21 through 33 of the collection consist of materials and correspondence generated by the administration of the company and its closing and sale to the Southern California Water Company; financial records; and records generated by operational activities. Administrative documents include minutes of board meetings and annual stockholder meetings; notices sent to stockholders about meetings, assessments, rate changes, and the liquidation of the company; stock certificates and stockholder lists; blank forms; and correspondence. They also include the company's articles of incorporation and amended by-laws, as well as legal documents and correspondence relating to lawsuits the company was involved in. The company's financial records include bank statements, checks and check stubs, ledgers, tax records, financial statements, bills, and other related materials used in the company's regular financial affairs. The operational materials document the company's day-to-day water pumping and distribution activities and include records relating to its business partnerships with McCalla Brothers Pump and Drilling Company and the Valley View Water Company. Additional operational materials include meter and well reports, water permits, tract maps, and stereographic photographs of well interiors accompanied with two stereographic slide viewers. The collection also contains administrative files of the Claremont Basin Mutual Water Company and the contents of a letter box containing administrative records, financial records, correspondence, and a stock book belonging to the Valley View Water Company. This portion of collection came from the company's president, Stanley R. Barnes, and documents the company's annual meetings and related administrative activities particularly well. There are, however, significant gaps in its stockholder records.

    Organization and Arrangement

    This collection has been organized into the following series and subseries:
    • Series 1: Administrative Files, 1909-1981 and undated
    • Series 2: Financial Records, 1912-1981 and undated
    • Series 3: Operational Materials, 1914-1978 and undated
    File folders are arranged alphabetically by title.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library’s online public access catalog.

    Subject Terms

    Banks and banking--Accounting
    Barnes, Stanley R.
    California Mutual Water Companies Association
    California, Southern--History--20th century
    Claremont (Calif.)
    Claremont Basin Mutual Water Company
    Claremont Heights Irrigation Company
    McCalla Brothers Pump & Drilling Company
    Pomona Valley Municipal Water District
    Southern California Water Company
    Valley View Water Company
    Water -- California, Southern
    Water districts -- California
    Water-supply--California, Southern
    Water utilities
    West (U.S.)--History--1890-1945
    West (U.S.)--History--1945-

    Genre and Form of Materials

    Account books
    Checks
    Corporate minutes
    Correspondence
    Financial statements
    Invoices
    Legal documents
    Legal forms
    Licenses
    Maps
    Photographs
    Reports
    Stock certificates