James Filmore Crank papers, 1875-1929

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Summary

Creators:
Crank, James Filmore, 1842-1935
Abstract:
The collection contains material related to the business enterprises of James Filmore Crank; the material includes correspondence, letter books, documents, manuscripts, maps, and volumes.
Extent:
15 Linear Feet (12 boxes, 13 volumes, 1 roll)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. James Filmore Crank papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of 450 items from 1875 to 1929, and includes letters, manuscripts, business documents, and 32 maps and drawings related to the business interests of James Filmore Crank and the development of Los Angeles County. Of particular note is the collection's focus on city and interurban railways, including the Los Angeles Cable Railway Co., Pacific Railway Co., Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad Co., and Los Angeles Development Co. There are also materials related to the wine industry (Sierra Madre Vintage Co. and Lamanda Park, California), the Fair Oaks Ranch in Pasadena, the Azusa Land and Water Co., and education in California private schools during the late nineteenth century. Correspondents in the collection include: John Dustin Bicknell, Albert Filmore Crank, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Joseph H. Hoadley, Collis Potter Huntington, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Edwin Burritt Smith.

Biographical / historical:

James Filmore Crank (1842-1935) was born in Bushnell, Yates County, New York. He spent some years in Cleveland, Ohio, and Chicago, Illinois before moving to California because of his wife's health in 1874. Crank bought the Fair Oaks Ranch in Pasadena, California, from Benjamin S. Eaton in 1877. Crank was active in Los Angeles, where he organized the First National Bank, became an owner of the Los Angeles Times, helped secure Westlake Park for the city, and gave land for the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena. He was instrumental in the founding of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad, which began operation in 1885 and was sold to the Santa Fe Railroad in 1887. He built the first cable street railway in the West in Los Angeles in 1889 and helped found the city of Monrovia, California, in 1886. He died in Pasadena, in 1935 at the age of 92.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Mrs. Mildred Crank in 1935 and 1936.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1940. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the finding aid derived from a legacy in-house summary report.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. James Filmore Crank papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

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