Mount Wilson Toll Road Company Records: Finding Aid
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http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8gb28sp No online items Mount Wilson Toll Road Company Records: Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Xiaofei Wang, November 5, 2008. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Manuscripts Department 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2129 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org © 2008 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved. Mount Wilson Toll Road Company mssMount Wilson Toll Road Co 1 Records: Finding Aid Overview of the Collection Title: Mount Wilson Toll Road Company Records Dates (inclusive): 1903-1953 Collection Number: mssMount Wilson Toll Road Co Creator: Mount Wilson Toll Road Company. Extent: 206 items in 1 box and 10 volumes. Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts Department 1151 Oxford Road San Marino, California 91108 Phone: (626) 405-2129 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.huntington.org Abstract: This collection contains business records chiefly related to the finances of the Mount Wilson Toll Road Company, which built the Mount Wilson Toll Road, a ten-mile wagon road it completed in 1891 from the foothills above Pasadena, California, up to Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains. The records date from 1903 to 1953. Language: English. Access Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services. Publication Rights The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher. Preferred Citation [Identification of item]. Mount Wilson Toll Road Company Records, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California. Provenance Gift of Jerome Schwimmer, July 16, 1968. Historical Note The Pasadena and Mount Wilson Toll Road Company, incorporated in 1889 by Judge Benjamin Eaton and others, was reorganized in 1890 with the purpose of building a ten mile wagon road from Eaton Canyon up the west flank of the San Gabriel Mountains to Mt. Wilson, above Pasadena, California. The road was completed and put into use in 1891, and the company gradually acquired control of the Mt. Wilson area. A syndicate took control in 1904, and the Mt. Wilson Hotel was built. The road was later improved for automobile traffic and continued in use until its closure in 1936. The Mount Wilson Toll Road Company then became the Mount Wilson Hotel Company. Scope and Content This collection contains business records chiefly related to the finances of the Mount Wilson Toll Road Company, which built the Mount Wilson Toll Road, a ten-mile wagon road it completed in 1891 from the foothills above Pasadena, California, up to Mount Wilson in the San Gabriel Mountains. The records contain 12 folders in 1 box plus 10 volumes. The inclusive dates are 1903-1953. The two largest folders each have 36 items while the two smallest folders each have only 1 item. The folders include correspondence, insurance policies, lists of shareholders, tax documents, a description of the trip of Mt. Wilson, and other documents about the Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company and the Mount Wilson Hotel Company. The correspondence deals chiefly with the company’s finances, and many, including letters from the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, are about tax issues. There are also 9 volumes of ledgers and journals, and 1 volume is a register book for the Mount Wilson Hotel. The volumes are arranged chronologically. The records provide a unique perspective to view corporate history in Southern California. In addition, pamphlets and newspaper clippings in Tax Documents (1919) show the company’s concern over the newly enforced income tax policies. Subjects in the records include Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles, Liberty bonds, and Southern California Edison Company. Arrangement The folders in box 1 are arranged in alphabetical order. The items in each folder, whenever possible, are arranged chronologically by the date that those items were signed or complied. Mount Wilson Toll Road Company mssMount Wilson Toll Road Co 2 Records: Finding Aid Indexing Terms The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Huntington Library's Online Catalog. Subjects Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Los Angeles. Mount Wilson Toll Road Company -- Archives. Southern California Edison Company. Hotels -- California -- Wilson, Mount (Mountain) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Liberty bonds. Trails -- California -- Wilson, Mount (Mountain) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. San Gabriel Mountains (Calif.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Wilson, Mount (Calif. : Mountain) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Forms/Genres Business records -- California, Southern -- 20th century. Ledgers (account books) -- California, Southern -- 20th century. Letters (correspondence) -- California, Southern -- 20th century. Additional Contributors Mount Wilson Hotel. Mount Wilson Trail. Box 1 Boxed items Folder 1 Correspondence (1910-1914). 29 items. Folder 2 Correspondence (1916-1919). 15 item. Folder 3 Correspondence (1920-1922). 18 items. Folder 4 Correspondence (1925-1928). 4 items. Folder 5 Description of Trip to Mt. Wilson [1903]. 1 item. Folder 6 Insurance Polices (1951-1953). 7 items. Folder 7 List of Stock Holders & Trial Balance (1903-1904). 1 item. Folder 8 Tax Documents (1910-1914). 27 items. Folder 9 Tax Documents (1915-1918). 36 items. Folder 10 Tax Documents (1919). 36 items. Folder 11 Tax Documents (1920-1924). 22 item. Folder 12 Tax Documents (1925-1928). 10 items. Volumes Volume 1 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Ledger (Road and Hotel) (1913-1915). 1 item. Volume 2 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Petty Cash (Road and Hotel) (1913-1927). 1 item. Volume 3 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Ledger (Road and Hotel) (1915-1916). 1 item. Volume 4 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Ledger (Road and Hotel) (1916- 1919). 1 item. Volume 5 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Journal (Road and Hotel) (1920-1930). 1 item. Volume 6 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Ledger (Road and Hotel) (1923-1929). 1 item. Volume 7 Mt. Wilson Hotel – Requisitions, Supplies, and Inventories (1925-1928). 1 item. Volume 8 Mt. Wilson Hotel Register (1926-1928). 1 item. Volume 9 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Ledger (Road and Hotel) (1927-1935). 1 item. Volume 10 Mt. Wilson Toll Road Company Ledger (Road and Cafe) (1930). 1 item. Mount Wilson Toll Road Company mssMount Wilson Toll Road Co 3 Records: Finding Aid.