New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company Records
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2021
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company Records
Creator:
New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0828
Physical Description:
.25 Linear feet
(1 archives box, 1 map case folder)
Date (inclusive): 1892-1937
Abstract: Correspondence, reports, and maps of the New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company, an American firm which mined onyx marble in Baja
California, Mexico from 1893-1958.
Languages:
English
, Spanish; Castilian
.
Scope and Content of Collection
Records of the New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company, an American firm which mined onyx marble in Baja California from 1893-1958.
The collection includes correspondence, reports, maps, and ephemera regarding the establishment and operations of the company.
Historical Background
The New Pedrara Onyx Company of New York and Chicago began prospecting for onyx marble in northern Baja California in 1892.
Onyx marble, also known as banded calcite or Mexican onyx, is used in building construction and decorative arts. Company president
Samuel Franklin Emmons (1841-1911) dispatched George Foster and William Denton (1828-1907) to survey mineral deposits in Baja
California. After exploring the Punta Final region, they discovered the El Mármol site with rich deposits of onyx marble.
The New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company was established in San Diego and began quarrying onyx marble at El Mármol in 1893. The
slabs were shipped 50 miles overland on a wagon road to Puerto Santa Catarina, where they were barged to ships offshore for
transport to San Diego. The onyx marble was cut and polished at the waterfront plant on 23rd Street; both raw and finished
onyx were shipped to buyers worldwide. In 1910, the
San Diego Union and Daily Bee described the New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company as the "largest producers and shippers of onyx in the world." New Pedrara
onyx marble was featured in the construction of the grand lobby of the Spreckels Theatre in San Diego in 1912.
The New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company was incorporated in San Diego in 1906. In 1915, it was reorganized into the Lyman-Mills
Onyx and Marble Company under Leslie B. Mills, and 1921 it became the Southwest Onyx and Marble Company. Demand for onyx marble
declined during the 1930s and 1940s, and the quarry closed in 1958.
Preferred Citation
New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company Records. MSS 828. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2021
Publication Rights
Digital copies of this material are intended to support research, teaching, and private study. This work may be used without
prior permission. The original manuscripts for this collection are held by Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Onyx marble -- Mexico -- Baja California (Peninsula)
Maps -- Mexico -- Baja California -- 19th century
Baja California (Mexico : Peninsula) -- Maps
New Pedrara Mexican Onyx Company -- Archives
Denton, William, 1828-1907
Box 1, Folder 1
Renouncement of Fortunata and Eureka silver mines by George Foster
1892 January 19
General note
Two signed documents embossed with the seal of Baja California Norte, in which Foster renounces his ownership of two silver
mines in Baja California.
Box 1, Folder 2
Letters - Samuel Franklin Emmons, Washington, D.C., to George Foster
1892-1893
General note
Two letters from Emmons, president of the New Pedrara Onyx Company, authorizing George Foster to act as the company's agent
in Baja California, and other business concerns. Mentions a shipment of onyx to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
Box 1, Folder 3
Letters - William Denton and George Foster, San Diego, with Matías Romero, Washington, D.C.
1893 October
General note
Two letters from Denton and Foster describing challenges of geological prospecting (the terrain and legal troubles), and requesting
help obtaining mineral rights in Baja California; and Romero's response.
Box 1, Folder 4
Reports by William Denton
1893
General note
Four reports by William Denton describing mineral deposits and mines near Punta Final, Baja California (including survey of
San Francisco mine), and geological specimens from Cedros Island.
Oversize MC-024, Folder 07
Denton, William. Mapa de un terreno mineral llamado Las Minas del Punto Final; Mapa de la mina San Francisco de la groupa
[sic] de Minas del Punto Final
1893 August 26
Mapa de un terreno mineral llamado Las Minas del Punto Final; Mapa de la mina San Francisco de la groupa [sic] de Minas del
Punto Final: 1893 August 26
General note
Manuscript map on oilcloth of two Baja California mining properties. Solicitado por el Señor Santiago Bareño. 34.5 by 15.5
inches.
Oversize MC-024, Folder 07
Untitled manuscript map showing part of northern Baja California
circa 1893
Manuscript map showing part of northern Baja California: circa 1893
General note
Manuscript map on oilcloth depicting an area approximately between the 28th and 31st parallel. Red ink numbers along coasts
likely record soundings. Place names noted: San Quintín, El Rosario, Ballenas Channel, Cedros Island (mislabeled Cerros Island),
and a few others. Scale undetermined. 24 by 18.5 inches.
Box 1, Folder 5
Lower California Onyx Company investment brochure fragment
circa 1910
Box 1, Folder 6
Letters - Correspondence between Robert B. Moran, Nathan Moran, and Thomas H. Frothingham
1925
General note
Correspondence primarily between petroleum geologist Robert Breck Moran, Nathan Moran, and Thomas H. Frothingham ("Don Tomas")
regarding banking, planning, and expenses for Baja California expeditions. Frothingham writes on American Consular Service
letterhead from Guaymas, Mexico; other letters originate in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Other correspondents
include a J. P. Brown and B. M. Elliott.
Box 1, Folder 7
Letter - Kathleen Loeser, San Francisco, to Robert Moran
1937 October 27
General note
Letter regarding Loeser family's mining documents.
