The Bell Conservatory Company Business Records is comprised o f 4.25 linear feet of business records. The majority of the files are financial ledgers. Also included are two sample books of floral arrangements. The bulk of the collection dates from 1889 - 1930. The collection is divided into 3 series: financial records, sample floral arrangements, and artifacts.

The Bell Conservatory was located in Sacramento California on Broadway between 9 and 10th Streets in Sacramento, California. It was constructed in 1881 under the direction of Margaret Crocker, well known community leader and wife of E.B. Crocker. The cost of construction at that time was $38,000 dollars. Mrs. Crocker wished to supply flowers for the graves of the nearby Sacramento City Cemetery, where many of the city’s founders were buried. The conservatory building had a glass construction with a large dome on top. Some of the glass came from Belgium and was ordered through the Tiffany Company. The Conservatory was a half size replica of the San Francisco Conservatory which was built in 1878. The Conservatory was purchased by Eugene Geisreiter in the 1880s. Geisreiter, born in New York, came to California and worked at the San Francisco Conservatory. He moved to Sacramento and operated the Bell Conservatory for almost fifty years. After his death, his son Herbert (Bert) operated the company from 1928 until 1956. Bert Geisreiter attend UC Berkeley and obtained a degree in landscape architecture. Geisreiter served as mayor of the Sacramento during the years 1950 and 1951. He also served on the City Council and the Planning Commission. Additionally, he served as the General Manager of the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau from 1957 until 1972. The Bell Conservatory was sold in 1954 and was then torn down to make way for a Safeway supermarket.

4.25 linear feet (6 boxes)

All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH 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 patron. No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.

Collection is open for research use.