Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Related Material
Descriptive Summary
Title: Copies of William Heath Davis Manuscripts Holdings in the California State Library, Sacramento,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1840-1909
Collection number: 104
Creator: Davis, William Heath, 1822-1909
Extent:
1 oversize box
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: William Heath Davis (1822-1909) was a merchant in San Francisco, a real estate developer in San Diego, and an author. The
collection consists of 2 reels of 35mm. positive microfilm of correspondence and other material related to Davis' business
in Northern California.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including
copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds
the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Restrictions on Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
Additional Physical Form Available
A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house
consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
- Public Services Division
- UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
- Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
- Box 951575
- Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
- Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific
Time)
- Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Copies of William Heath Davis Manuscripts Holdings in the California State Library, Sacramento (Collection
104). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
William Heath Kanaka Bill Davis was born in Hawaii in 1822, the grandson of a Polynesian princess; accompanied his stepfather
on voyages to Alaska, and when he was ten, to California; learned merchandizing from his uncle Nathan Spear, a wealthy merchant
with stores in San Francisco and Monterey; operated store in San Francisco, served briefly on the town council, and became
a millionaire by age 28; invested in 160 acre waterfront property, now located between Front Street and Broadway in San Diego;
sent for six prefabricated buildings from Portland, Maine in 1849 and built a wharf and warehouse called New Town; however
it did not attract sufficient business, and became known as Davis' Folly; Davis wrote
Sixty Years in California (1889) and
Seventy-Five Years in California (published posthumously in 1929); he died in 1909.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of 2 reels of 35mm. positive microfilm of correspondence and other material related to merchant William
Heath Davis' business in Northern California.
Original papers held at the California State Library, Sacramento.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Davis, William Heath, 1822-1909--Archives.
Merchants--California--Archival resources.
Microfilms.
Related Material
William Heath Davis Papers (Collection 2041). Available at Department of Special Collections, UCLA.