Nathan W. Stowell Papers, 1852-1925

Summary

Creators:

Stowell, Nathan W.

Abstract:

This collection consists primarily of field notes, maps, and business records related to Nathan W. Stowell (1851-1943) and his land development and irrigation interests in the Cucamonga area, Los Angeles, and the Imperial Valley in Southern California.

Extent:

167 items in 3 boxes + 2 oversize folders and 1 rolled item

Language:

English.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists primarily of field notes, maps, and business records related to Nathan W. Stowell and his land development and irrigation interests in the Cucamonga area, Los Angeles, and the Imperial Valley. Included are copies of the field notes from Los Angeles area surveyors Henry Hancock, George Hansen, and William P. Reynolds from the 1850s to the 1870s, as well as copies of maps and plats from the Cucamonga and Los Angeles areas. Business records include seven volumes consisting of deeds, articles of incorporation, and lawsuits related to Stowell’s interests in the Cucamonga Company, the Cucamonga Water Company, the Cucamonga Fruit Land Company, and the Cucamonga Water Company. Most of these volumes include an index listing the individuals and corporations that are included. Subjects in the collection include: history of Southern California business enterprises and capitalists, irrigation, real estate development, and real property. Individuals who appear in the collection include the land and irrigation developer George Chaffey, Imperial Valley developer C. R. Rockwood, and the surveyor William Rich Hutton. The Southern Pacific Railroad Company and the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles also appear as subjects in the collection.

Also included are documents relating to the court cases N. W. Stowell vs. Rialto Irrigation District, California Development Co. vs. Imperial Land Co., et al, and J. B. McPherson, et. al vs. Cucamonga Fruit Land Co.

There are 14 oversize items, including 12 maps, Field Notes by Henry Hancock, and a rolled Tabulation of Measurements of Water Development at Red Hills, Cucamonga.

Biographical / historical:

Nathan W. Stowell (1851-1943) was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, on December 15, 1851. He learned engineering and hydraulics in New England before moving to Los Angeles, California, in 1874. In Southern California, he worked on numerous irrigation and land development projects, including Rialto, Corona, Cucamonga, Ontario, East Whittier, and the Imperial Valley. He founded or took leadership positions in several companies, which included the Stowell Cement Pipe Company, the Cucamonga Fruit Land Company, the Cucamonga Land and Improvement Company, the Ontario Power Company, the Pacific Sewer Pipe Company, the California Development Company, and the Imperial Valley Water Company Number 1. Stowell worked closely with George and William Chaffey, Canadian brothers involved in the irrigation development of Ontario, California and the Imperial Valley.

Stowell retired from his Imperial Valley interests in 1902, and thereafter became known for his work in and around Los Angeles. Among these projects was the twelve-story Hotel Stowell, which was completed in 1914. Stowell died in Los Angeles on April 3, 1943.

Acquisition information:

Purchased from N. Kovach, 1943, and February and April 1945.

Arrangement:

Organized alphabetically by folder title.

Rules or conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Other descriptive data:

Hancock, Henry.

• Author of item in Reports and Notes (1852-1871). Box 1 (12).

Hansen, George, 1824-1897.

• Author of item in Reports and Notes (1852-1871). Box 1 (12).

Chaffey, George, 1848-1932.

• Subject in Business Papers (1806-1902). Box 1 (1).
• Subject in California Development Company vs. The Imperial Land Company, et al.: Complaint by E. S. Ives, Edwin A. Meserve, and J.S. Chapman (1906). Box 1 (2).
• Subject in Volume of Legal Documents: Cucamonga Company (1871-1886). Box 2 (5).

Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles.

• Subject in Volume of Legal Documents (1869-1900). Box 3 (2).

Hutton, Wm. Rich (William Rich), 1826-1901.

• Subject in Reports and Notes (1852-1871). Box 1 (12).

Imperial Valley (Calif. and Mexico).

• Subject in California Development Company vs. The Imperial Land Company, et al.: Complaint by E. S. Ives, Edwin A. Meserve, and J.S. Chapman (1906). Box 1 (2).

Rockwood, C.R.

• Subject in California Development Company vs. The Imperial Land Company, et al.: Complaint by E. S. Ives, Edwin A. Meserve, and J. S. Chapman (1906). Box 1 (2).

Southern Pacific Railroad Company

• Subject in Volume of Legal Documents (1902-1905). Box 3 (2).

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Business enterprises -- California, Southern -- History -- Sources.
Capitalists and financiers -- California, Southern -- Archives.
Irrigation -- California, Southern.
Real estate development -- California, Southern -- History -- Sources.
Real property -- California, Southern.
Field notes -- California, Southern.
Letters (correspondence) -- California, Southern.
Maps -- California, Southern.

Restrictions:

Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.

Location of this collection:

Huntington Library, Manuscript Collections

1151 Oxford Road

San Marino, CA 91108, US

Contact:

(626) 405-2191

reference@huntington.org

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