Jeffry Joseph Prendergast Papers, Water Resources Collection, 1944-1963

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Summary

Creators:
Prendergast, Jeffry Joseph, 1875-1962
Abstract:
This collection of papers was assembled by Jeffry Pendergast. The Prendergast papers include documents about water rights and water supply in California from 1944-1963.
Extent:
0.8 Linear Feet (2 document boxes)
Language:
Languages represented in the collection: English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jeffry Joseph Prendergast Papers, Water Resources Collection (H.Mss.0696). Special Collections and Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection of papers was assembled by Jeffry Pendergast. The Prendergast papers include documents about water rights and water supply in California from 1944-1963. Subjects include California Division of Water Resources,the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and the areas/counties of origin. The area of origin statutes represent a legislative response in California to an absence of an effective for market pricing water.

Biographical / historical:

Jeffry Joseph Prendergast (1875-1962) was born in DePere, Wisconsin, on August 31, 1875. His father was a civil engineer for the railroads and the family moved to Newton, Massachusetts in 1881, then Chula Vista, California in 1889, before finally settling in Redlands, California, where Jeffry completed his high school education in 1894. Following high school, Prendergast received two and a half years of training in civil engineering at the University of California, Berkeley before embarking on a varied career that included working in the maintenance-of-way department of the Santa Fe Railroad in San Bernardino, at the Southern California Power Company's (now Southern California Edison) Power House Number 1 in Santa Ana Canyon, with the San Diego Water Department, and developing his own grain business in Redlands. Prendergast also developed a mining claim in Searchlight, Nevada, setting up a stamp mill for gold production.

By 1907, Prendergast had settled back in Redlands. He married his wife Mary Gill in 1904 and his son Thomas was born in 1910. Prendergast served as secretary-treasurer of the Home Telephone Company, in association with C. A. Rolfe, until 1915, before turning his attention to citrus growing, which saw him develop several orange properties. He also participated in local politics shortly after his return to Redlands, serving as city councilman from 1908 to 1912, and state assemblyman for two sessions, 1921 and 1923. Following the death of H. H. Garstin in 1929, Prendergast succeeded him as president and general manager of the Bear Valley Mutual Water Company and the Bear Valley Development Company, where he oversaw water management, primarily for citrus irrigation use.

Source:

"Prendergast, Jeffry Joseph (1875 – 1962)." The Redlands Area Historical Society, Inc. Accessed June 27, 2024. https://rahs.org/photo/prendergast-jeffrey-joseph-1875-1962/

Acquisition information:
Provenance unknown.
Processing information:

Arranged and processed by Russell Michalak, 2009.

Arrangement:

This collection has been organized into the following series:

  • Series 1: California Mountain Water Documents, 1944-1962
  • Series 2: Papers on Water Use in California, 1950-1963
  • Series 3: Areas/Counties of Origin, 1955-1962
  • Series 4: California Government Documents, 1955-1963
  • Series 5: Newspaper Clippings, 1962
  • Series 6: Feather River Association, 1958-1959
Accruals:

No additions to the collection are anticipated.

Physical location:
Please consult repository.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection open for research.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish must be submitted in writing to Special Collections.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Jeffry Joseph Prendergast Papers, Water Resources Collection (H.Mss.0696). Special Collections and Archives, The Claremont Colleges Library, The Claremont Colleges Services, Claremont, California.

Location of this collection:
800 N. Dartmouth Ave.
Claremont, CA 91711, US
Contact:
(909) 607‑3977
specialcollections@claremont.edu
Website