Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Crocker, Charles, 1822-1888
- Abstract:
- A collection of business letters between railroad magnates Charles Crocker and Collis P. Huntington covering the years August 1881 and December 1883.
- Extent:
- 1.26 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item]. Charles Crocker correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection contains 675 letters from Charles Crocker to Collis Huntington and Huntington's secretary Isaac Gates written between August 1881 and December 1883. The letters were dictated by Crocker to private secretaries in San Francisco and sent to Huntington in New York City. The letters sent to Isaac Gates are adminstrative in nature. The letters explore Crocker's interests in banking, real estate, agricultural development, and mining. Most of the letters sent to Huntington are business-related, including Crocker and Huntington's interests in the Southern Pacific Railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad, the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company, and other railroads and mines scattered through the Southwest, Oregon, and Mexico.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Charles Crocker (1822-1888) was a prominent store-owner in Sacramento when, in 1860, he joined Collis Huntington, Huntington's business partner Mark Hopkins, then-Governor Leland Stanford, and other smaller investors in financing Theodore Judah's Central Pacific Railroad plan. Crocker's role in the Central Pacific was to oversee the construction. Crocker solved the problem of manpower by hiring Chinese workers and succeeded in finishing track construction many years ahead of the federal deadline. During the time of these letters, Crocker was the second vice president of the Central Pacific Railroad.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased for the Huntington by the Library Collectors' Council from the Mariner's Museum, Newport News, Virginia, January 2006.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 2006. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from legacy in-house summary report.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged chronologically.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.
- Terms of access:
-
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:
-
[Identification of item]. Charles Crocker correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191