Dan Murphy Company records, 1876-2005, bulk 1922-1969

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Summary

Creators:
Dan Murphy Foundation
Abstract:
This collection consists of business records pertaining to the Dan Murphy Company and the Dan Murphy Foundation from 1876-2005.
Extent:
24 boxes and 4 volumes
Language:
The records are in English .

Background

Scope and content:

Boxes 1-9 consist of alphabetical files relating to Dan Murphy Company’s real estate holdings and other investments. These files consist of business and financial records including appraisals, lease agreements, social security reports, correspondence, memorandums, and tax returns. There are also items related to the company’s exploratory well project in Jackson County, Oklahoma in the 1950s and 1960s.

Boxes 10-13 consist of tax bills, federal and state income tax returns relating to the Dan Murphy Company from 1940-1969. Also in Box 13 (3) are minutes from the Directors Meetings from 1945-1969.

Boxes 14-17 consist of five cash books, two journals relating to securities, stock certificates, one stock ledger, and four minute books.

Boxes 18-21 consist of mining claims. Murphy was the president of Ivanpah Copper Company, which was originally Cocopah Mining Company, located in San Bernardino County, California. These mining records include cash books, ledgers, a minute book, and miscellaneous legal documents.

Boxes 22-24 consist of former Daniel Murphy Foundation holdings, which include the Bay Shore Land Company, Brea Canyon Oil Company, CalMat Company, and Portland Cement Company. These business records include financial documents, correspondence, ephemera, and legal documents.

There are four oversize general ledgers from 1922-1969 housed at the end of the collection.

Cataloger's Notes:

  • The original order of the collection has mostly been retained including folder titles.
  • Due to the amount of material in some folders, they had to be separated. The letters “a” and “b” were designated for folders that were divided.

Biographical / historical:

Daniel B. Murphy was born on September 21, 1855 in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. He spent his early years in the Oklahoma oil fields before arriving in California as an employee of the Southern Pacific railroad. In 1883, Murphy and his Irish-born partner, Frank Monaghan, began transforming Needles railroad station into a town. They built a general store, bank and utility plants for a population of 300 railroad men. Soon, they began to set up a business empire by securing water rights and setting up a chain of refrigeration and ice manufacturing plants for the Santa Fe railroad. Murphy also dabbled in the mining industry along the Colorado River. In 1894, Murphy provided financial support for the California Portland Cement Company in Colton, California. He served as its president for 35 years. Tempted by the oil industry again, he opened the Brea Canyon Oil Company, located in the Coyote Hills above Fullerton and in East Whittier. More than a decade later, he settled in El Segundo, which surrounded Standard Oil refinery, helping to create another company town. From his Los Angeles office, Murphy began promoting cement sales, which lured the influential to the blue-collared community of Colton. Murphy’s cement helped build Southwestern monuments, ranging from Union Station in Los Angeles to Hoover Dam and the All American Canal. He passed away on September 14, 1939. At the time of his death, Murphy was president of the California Portland Cement Company and Brea Canyon Oil Company.

The Dan Murphy Company was incorporated on February 15, 1922. The Dan Murphy Foundation was established in 1957 as an independent California non-profit corporation by Bernardine Murphy Donohue in memory of her father, Daniel Murphy. Daniel Donohue, Mrs. Donohue’s husband, was one of the founding trustees and also served as president of the foundation from 1968 until 2008.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Dan Murphy Foundation, November 2014.
Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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