James Filmore Crank papers

The collection consists of 450 items from 1875 to 1929, and includes letters, manuscripts, business documents, and 32 maps and drawings related to the business interests of James Filmore Crank and the development of Los Angeles County. Of particular note is the collection's focus on city and interurban railways, including the Los Angeles Cable Railway Co., Pacific Railway Co., Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad Co., and Los Angeles Development Co. There are also materials related to the wine industry (Sierra Madre Vintage Co. and Lamanda Park, California), the Fair Oaks Ranch in Pasadena, the Azusa Land and Water Co., and education in California private schools during the late nineteenth century. Correspondents in the collection include: John Dustin Bicknell, Albert Filmore Crank, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Joseph H. Hoadley, Collis Potter Huntington, Helen Hunt Jackson, and Edwin Burritt Smith.