Charles Crocker Correspondence mssCrocker
Gayle Richardson
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Charles Crocker correspondence
Creator:
Crocker, Charles,
1822-1888
Identifier/Call Number: mssCrocker
Physical Description:
1.26 Linear Feet
(3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1881-1883
Abstract: A collection of business letters
between railroad magnates Charles Crocker and Collis P. Huntington covering the years August
1881 and December 1883.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Charles Crocker correspondence, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased for the Huntington by the Library Collectors' Council from the Mariner's Museum,
Newport News, Virginia, January 2006.
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.
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.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 2006. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the
finding aid derived from legacy in-house summary report.
Arranged chronologically.
Former call number: mssCrocker-Huntington correspondence
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 19th century
Colton, David Douty,
1832-1878
Gates, Isaac
Huntington, Collis Potter,
1821-1900
Central Pacific Railway
Company
Chesapeake and Ohio
Railroad Company
Southern Pacific Railway Company
Occidental and Oriental
Steamship Company
Box 1, Folder 1-24
Correspondence August 1881 - May 1882
Box 2, Folder 1-20
Correspondence June 1882 - June 1883
Box 3, Folder 1-15
Correspondence July 1883 - December 1883