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DEL AMO NURSERIES COLLECTION,
1922-1976
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Table of contents
Title: Del Amo Nurseries Collection
Dates: 1922-1976
Collection Number: Consult repository
Creator:
Rancho San Pedro Nursery and
Del Amo Nursery
Extent:
26 boxes
(32 linear feet)
Repository: California State University, Dominguez Hills
Archives and Special Collections
Archives & Special Collection
University Library, Room G-145
1000 E. Victoria Street
Carson, California 90747
Phone: (310) 243-3013
URL: http://archives.csudh.edu/
Abstract: Materials in this collection are from the San Pedro Rancho Nursery and Del Amo Nursery. They include ledges, tax documents,
correspondence, contract information, catalogs, and artifacts on the subjects of growing and providing landscaping materials,
daily business practices, contracts with cities and theme parks, and other topics.
Language: Collection material is in English
There are no access restrictions on this collection.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Director of Archives
and Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical
materials and not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Title of item], Del Amo Nurseries Collection, Courtesy of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. University
Library. California State University, Dominguez Hills
Materials were recieved from the Del Amo Estate Company around 1979.
This finding aid was created as part of Early Los Angeles/Rancho San Pedro Manuscript Cataloging Project, a CSU Dominguez
Hills Library project funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. The project started in 2005.
Project Director was Greg Williams. Project Archivists were Thomas Philo and Jennifer Allan Goldman.
The San Pedro Ranch Nursery Company was founded in February 1921 by Dr. Gregorio del Amo y Gonzales, husband of Maria Susana
Delfina Dominguez, daughter of Manuel Dominguez. Dr. del Amo had a strong interest in horticulture since his childhood and
founded the nursery to provide trees and shrubs for the landscaping of Dominguez Hills, as well as to provide an occupation
for his son, Carlos. The nursery was incorporated in April 1923 and renamed Del Amo Nurseries in May 1933. In 1937, the Del
Amo Nurseries was merged into the Del Amo Estate Company.
The nursery, located at the intersection of Del Amo Boulevard and Alameda Street with offices in the Union Bank Building in
downtown Los Angeles, provided wholesale horticulture products to locations as distant as New York, Spain, France, Peru, and
Morocco. Due to Gregorio Del Amo’s interest in horticulture, varieties of trees, shrubs, and ornamental flowering plants from
every continent were grown and sold at the nursery. The products were physically planted into the land, instead of in pots
or tubs, in the same order as in the printed catalogs, creating a “living catalog.” The nurseries also hosted the Nurseries
Industries Roundup in 1938. The one-day meeting allowed industry members to discuss relevant issues, as well as the possible
establishment in Westwood of a University of California school for the study of subtropical and ornamental plants.
After Gregorio del Amo’s death in 1941, his son Jaime inherited the property. The nursery continued to operate, though profits
were small. During the 1960s, the nursery donated stock for Torrance and Long Beach planting projects. The Estate Company
properties, including the nursery, were liquidated in 1964.
The nursery was controlled by a board of five directors until its purchase in 1937. The President was Gregorio del Amo. Vice-Presidents
were Stuart O’Melveny (1923-1925), Francisco G. de la Riva (1925-1933), Thomas Herron (1933-1936), and Jaime del Amo (1936-1937).
Secretaries were William S. Martin (1923-1925), Eugenio Cabrero (1925-1926 and 1927-1937), and H. J. Scherer (1926-1927).
Treasurers were Carlos del Amo (1923-1926) and Eugenio Cabrero (1928-1937). Operations were overseen by a manager/general
manager, beginning with H. J. Scherer (1926-1933). Scherer was followed by John Milton Asher (1933), Harold McFaddan (1936-1942),
Henry Oldershaw (1944-1947), and Ove Hoyer (1947-1964).
This collection is composed of large hand-written financial ledger books and an alphabetically-organized file of textual records
documenting the nursery’s business activities. A large group of the correspondence is from Vice-President Thomas Herron and
general managers H. J. Scherer and Ove Hoyer. Other materials include correspondence to and from Sea World and the Selective
Service System, purchase orders, legal documents, newsclippings, advertisements, price lists from Del Amo Nurseries, and artifacts
collected by the company. Folders other than ledgers have been kept in the original order: alphabetical order regardless of
series.
Arrangement
Arranged in four series:
- Series I. Financial Documents (1922-1965)
- Series II. Business Documents (1922-1945)
- Series IV. Artifacts and Photographs (1938, no date)
Landscape industry
Landscape gardening
Landscape nurseries
Nursery and garden industry
Nursery growers—California
Nursery—Management
Ornamental plant industry
Ornamental trees
Urban beautification – Long Beach (Calif.)
Horticulture
Cabrero, Eugenio
Del Amo, Gregorio
Del Amo, Jaime
Herron, Thomas J.
Leimert, Walter H.
Scherer, H. J.
San Pedro Ranch Nursery Company
Del Amo Nurseries
Del Amo Estate Company
Germain's Seed and Plant Company
Walter H. Leimert Co.
Sales Catalogs
Price Lists
- Del Amo Estate Company Collection
- Del Amo Foundation Collection
- Rancho San Pedro Collection
- Rancho San Pedro Reference Collection