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
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.