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Guide to the William C. Crowell Collection, 1901-1981
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Title: William C. Crowell Collection
Date (inclusive): 1901-1981
Collection number: Consult repository
Creator:
Crowell, William C.
Extent:
2 boxes
Repository:
Pasadena Museum of History
Pasadena, California 91103-3594
Abstract: The William C. Crowell Collection (1901-1981) includes a business ledger, plumbing catalogue, and three photograph albums
of construction projects.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library.
Language:
English.
Collection is open to the public for research. Use is restricted by rules intended to protect and preserve the materials
in good condition for the future. For additional information please contact the Pasadena Museum of History.
Use of the materials is governed by all applicable copyright law. The Pasadena Museum of History reserves the right to restrict
any materials from reproduction at any time. Property rights reside with the Pasadena Museum of History. Literary rights
are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. The Museum's physical ownership of the materials in its collection
does not imply ownership of copyright. It is the user's responibility to reslove any copyright issues related to the use
and distribution of reproduced materials. For permission to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Pasadena Museum of
History.
Suggested citation of these records: [Identification of item], William C. Crowell Collection, Research Library and Archives,
Pasadena Museum of History.
Gift of the Crowell Planning and Construction Corporation, 1981.
William C. Crowell was born on a farm near Argyle in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, in 1871. He studied architecture at Puget Sound Business
College while apprenticed to his brother as a carpenter in Seattle, Washington. In 1894 he came to Pasadena, California as
a carpenter. The following year he went to Guatemala, where he founded his own contracting business in 1897. Later that year,
Crowell returned to Pasadena and ran the Wm. C. Crowell Company until 1939, when he turned the business over to his son, Robert A. Crowell, who operated it until 1971, when he was succeeded
as company president by Ron T. Aday at the newly formed Crowell Planning and Construction Corporation. The construction firm built many well-known commercial, public, and school buildings in Pasadena and surrounding cities,
many designed by notable architects such as Greene & Greene, Julia Morgan, Myron Hunt, and Gordon Kaufmann. Until 1938, the Crowell Company constructed all the buildings on the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) campus. The firm also built the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, the Pasadena Public Library, the original Pasadena High School,
the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Pasadena YMCA and YWCA, and several University of Redlands Buildings.
In 1899, William C. Crowell married Iva Grace Nickerson of Argyle, Nova Scotia. They had three daughters and five sons. Crowell
ultimately settled in the city of San Marino, where he served in city government. He died in 1950.
The William C. Crowell Collection (1901-1981) includes a business ledger, plumbing catalogue, and three photograph albums
of construction projects.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Crowell, William C.
Crowell, Robert A.
Dwellings--California--Pasadena--Photographs
Pasadena (Calif.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial Works
Wm. C. Crowell Company
Crowell Planning and Construction Corporation