James Filmore Crank Papers mssCrank
Gayle Richardson
The Huntington Library
April 2020
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
reference@huntington.org
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: James Filmore Crank papers
Creator:
Crank, James Filmore, 1842-1935
Identifier/Call Number: mssCrank
Physical Description:
15 Linear Feet
(11 boxes, 13 volumes, 32 maps and drawings)
Date (inclusive): 1875-1929
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
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.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Mrs. Mildred Crank in 1935 and 1936.
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.
Scope and Contents
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.
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.
General
Former call number: mssCrank papers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Businessmen -- California -- Pasadena
Private schools -- California
Railroads -- California -- Los Angeles -- History
Railroads -- California -- Los Angeles Region -- History
Railroads -- California -- San Gabriel River Valley --
History
Wine industry -- California, Southern -- History
Fair Oaks Ranch (Pasadena, Calif.)
Lamanda Park (Calif.)
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century
Pasadena (Calif.) -- History -- 19th century
Business papers -- California -- 19th century
Business papers -- California -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- California -- 20th century
Manuscripts -- California -- 19th century
Manuscripts -- California -- 20th century
Maps -- California, Southern -- 19th century
Maps -- California, Southern -- 20th century
Azusa Land and Water
Company (Azusa, Calif.)
Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad
Los Angeles Cable Railway Company
Los Angeles Development Company
Pacific Railway Company
Sierra Madre Vintage Company
Bicknell, John Dustin, 1838-1911
Crank, Albert Filmore
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins,
1860-1935
Hoadley, Joseph H.
Huntington, Collis Potter,
1821-1900
Jackson, Helen Hunt,
1830-1885
Smith, Edwin Burritt,
1854-1906
Box 1
Albert Filmore Crank correspondence
1884-1894
Box 2
James Filmore Crank correspondence
1881-1887
Box 3
James Filmore Crank correspondence
1887-1891
Box 4
James Filmore Crank correspondence
1891-1928
Box 5
Thomas Addison - Collis P. Huntington
1884-1902
Box 6
Joseph H. Hoadley correspondence
1891-1893
Box 7
Helen Hunt Jackson - W. H. Norway
1875-1929
Box 8
Palmetto Company - Lovell White
1881-1902
Box 10
Sierra Madre Vintage Company correspondence and printed material
1895-1899
Box 11
Railway companies business papers, receipts, bills, and legal
papers
1875-1909
Volume 1
Los Angeles Development Company stock certificates
Volume 2
Los Angeles Development Company by-laws, etc.
Volume 3
Los Angeles Development Company record book
Volume 4
Los Angeles Development Company stock ledger
Volume 5
Los Angeles Development Company stock journal
Volume 6
Eastside Spring Water Company stock ledger
Volume 7
Eastside Spring Water Company stock journal
Volume 8
Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad Company record book
Volume 10
James Filmore Crank journal
1885-1888
Volume 11
James Filmore Crank ledger
1885-1888
Volume 12
Pacific Railway Company monthly reports
1891
Volume 13
Pacific Railway Company monthly reports
1892
Roll 1
Maps, blueprints, and drawings
Scope and Contents
Material includes: Plan showing Mill Site on the Gila River; Albert Crank's exercises
in mechanical drawing; blueprint of machinery for winery (1885); Azusa and Water Company
blueprints; blueprints, maps, etc., of land in Pasadena and vicinity; California
Petroleum and Asphalt Company blueprints, working drawings, etc.; miscellaneous working
drawings.
