Colgan business collection, 1869-1935 (bulk, 1880-1906)
Processed by Sonoma County Library staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Geoffrey Skinner.
This work is licensed by Sonoma County Library under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) 4.0 International License
Published Dec. 20, 2019
Colgan business collection, 1869-1935 (bulk, 1880-1906)
Sonoma County Library
Title: Colgan business collection
Date (inclusive): 1869-1935
Date (bulk): (bulk, 1880-1906)
Identification: SPC.00051
Creator:
Colgan Johnson, Elizabeth,1835-1904
Creator:
Johnson, Peter,1834-1880
Creator:
Colgan, Edward Power,1823-1873
Creator:
Colgan, Charles L.,1858-1908
Creator:
Colgan, Abe L.,1866-1924
Creator:
Colgan, Wesley G.,1897-1985
Physical Description:
1.2 linear feet
3 document boxes
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Repository:
Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library, Sonoma County Library
Abstract: The collection contains account books and different types of invoices and receipts of businesses operated by three generations
of Colgan family members: The Pioneer Hotel, the Colgan Bros. Blacksmithing and Horseshoeing Company, and Colgan's Super Service
Station. All businesses were located on the same site at the corner of First and Main Streets in Santa Rosa.
Biography/Organization History
The Pioneer Hotel was founded as the Colgan House by pioneer Edward P. Colgan in 1853. It was Santa Rosa's first hotel and
fourth building to be raised in the new downtown area. Also known as the Santa Rosa House and the Colgan Hotel, it located
the first office of the Wells-Fargo Express. After Edward P. Colgan's untimely death in 1873, his widow Elizabeth, a native
of Baden, Germany, took over the proprietorship, renamed the hotel and continued its operation for another ten years. Some
years after Colgan's death Elizabeth was married to Peter Johnson, according to many reports an excellent step-father to her
five sons and an active inn-keeper; in 1880 however it fell to her lot to wear the "weeds of widowhood again," her obituary
states. The hotel was rented out to a Peter Dolan in 1884 and to a Mr. Richardson in 1885. A year later hotel operations seemed
to have come to a halt when the Pioneer Laundry, one of two "White Laundry" businesses in Santa Rosa moved in, which, at the
height of the anti-Chinese movement, ran the ad "No Chinese Employed. Strictly White Labor" in one of the 1888 local business
directories. At the end of the century two of Elizabeth's sons George W. and Abe L. Colgan reclaimed the building and converted
it into a blacksmith shop-- a business that continued well into the 1940's-- albeit not under Colgan ownership. The building
itself was moved around the corner on to First Street in the early 1930's to make room for a service station operated by Wesley
Colgan, son of George W. and grandson of Edward P. Colgan.
Account books and different types of invoices and receipts of businesses operated by three generations of Colgan family members:
The Pioneer Hotel, the Colgan Bros. Blacksmithing and Horseshoeing Company, and Colgan's Super Service Station.
Organized into three series:
- Pioneer Hotel; Elizabeth Colgan Johnson
- Colgan Bros. Blacksmithing
- Colgan's Super Service Station
One series per box and chronological within each box; lists of contents included in each.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection.
Colgan family.
Pioneer Hotel--Records and corresondence
Colgan Bros. Blacksmithing and Horseshoeing Company--Records and corresondence
Colgan's Super Service Station--Records and corresondence
Business enterprises--California--Santa Rosa--History
Hotels--California--Santa Rosa--History
Blacksmiths--California--Santa Rosa--History
Service stations--California--Santa Rosa--History
Account books
Receipts (financial records)
Invoices
Archival materials
Important Information for Users of the Collection
Access Information
This collection is partially processed. Please contact the Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library for access; for contact
info and current hours, see
https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library
Conditions of Use
Collection does not circulate and may be photocopied or photographed by arrangement only.
Property rights reside with the Sonoma County Library. The Sonoma County Library has made this collection available and believes
that the collection is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its
copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Collection may not be in the Public Domain under the laws
of other countries. Preferred credit line is: Courtesy, the Sonoma County Library. Please see additional reproduction and
reuse information at
https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library/order-photo
[Identification of item], Colgan business collection, 1869-1935 (bulk, 1880-1906). SPC.00051, History and Genealogy Library,
Sonoma County Library, Santa Rosa, CA.
Gift:Sonoma County Museum, 2015