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Register of the Dietrich & Leistner Realtors Records, 1884-1955
Mss93  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Access Points
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Dietrich & Leistner Realtors Records,
    Date (inclusive): 1884-1955
    Collection number: Mss93
    Creator: Hugh Hayes
    Extent: 6 linear ft.
    Repository: University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
    Stockton, CA 95211
    Shelf location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
    Language: English.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Dietrich & Leistner Realtors Records, Mss93, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library

    Access Points

    personal name

    Dietrich, Franz Joseph
    Leistner, George W.
    Grunsky, Eugene M. (1859-1914)

    corporate name

    Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad

    subject

    Real estate developers -California -Stockton
    Real estate development -California -San Joaquin County
    Stockton (Calif.) -History -Sources
    San Joaquin County (Calif.) -History -Sources
    Railroads -California -San Joaquin County
    Deeds -California -San Joaquin County

    Biography

    Under various company names, Eugene M. Grunsky, George W. Leistner, F. Joseph Dietrich and his sons bought, developed and sold real estate in Stockton and San Joaquin county, California between 1889 and the present. Their companies dealt equally in agricultural, commercial, and residential properties, but they were particularly active in the residential development of east and north Stockton during the early 1920s.
    Eugene M. Grunsky (1859-1914), son of a well-to-do Stockton lumber merchant, entered the real estate business shortly after his graduation from Stockton High School (1880). He was in partnership for several years with Monroe D. Eaton (1889-1893). When Eaton formed his own company, Grunsky launched the firm of Nelson, Grunsky and Franklin (1894-1902). George Leistner (1878-1930) became Eugene Grunsky's real estate business partner after study at Stanford Law School (1904). Following graduation from Stockton High School (1893), F. Joseph Dietrich (1875-1950) became a deputy county clerk (1895) under Grunsky's brother, Otto, who was San Joaquin County Clerk for many years. Dietrich worked in that capacity until leaving to form a partnership with Eugene M. Grunsky and George W. Leistner (1905). This firm, known as Grunsky, Dietrich and Leistner, flourished until Grunsky's death (1914). It then continued as the Dietrich and Leistner Co. until George Leistner's death (1930) after which it became (and remains) the F. J. Dietrich Co.

    Scope and Content

    Many of the materials in this collection are personal papers of F. Joseph Dietrich, or his son, F. J. Jr.. They represent both their involvement with the Stockton Terminal and Eastern Railroad and their real estate activities during the period in which their company was known as Dietrich & Leistner (1915-1931) and the F.J. Dietrich Co. (1932-). The papers consist of correspondence, financial records, advertising copy, maps, and, above all, real estate documents--deeds, mortgages, leases, etc. As such, they provide a substantial resource for students of real estate development in California and of the history of Stockton.