Los Angeles Improvement Company Stock Ledger Book, Indenture Document and Three Stock Certificates 1885-1887
Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles Improvement Company, 1885-1887. Los Angeles Improvement Company Stock Ledger Book, Indenture Document and Three Stock Certificates 1885-1887
Stock ledger book measure 14 x 8 3/4 inches in 3/4 leather. Leather worn and chipping. Boards are loosening. Interior binding remains tight. Good condition.
1887 Indenture is split at middle fold. In protective sleeve. Fair condition.
Certificate No. 34 is dated February 1886. Toned along left edge. Cancelled. Signed by Edwin Hall and Jesse Yarnell; endorsed by owner Jas. McLaughlin. 40 shares. Beautiful grape cluster vignette. Very good condition.
Certificate No. 18 is dated August 1885. Toned along left edge. Cancelled. Signed by Edwin Hall and Jesse Yarnell; endorsed by owner Ralph Rogers. 100 shares. Trimmed on right edge. Beautiful grape cluster vignette. Good condition.
Certificate 122 unused and in fine condition.
Great little archive from the Los Angeles Improvement Company organized in 1885 to subdivide property southwest of downtown Los Angeles, in an area known as Crown Hill, into 1,400 lots. Because of the hilly terrain, the company planned a cable railway to connect it to downtown.
Early backers included Ralph Rogers, Henry Witmer, E.A. Hall, Charles Howard, and Jesse Yarnell--this group served as the first Board of Directors. Other backers included downtown businessmen Isaac W. Lord and John Hollenbeck, who owned property near the terminus of the line at Second and Spring Streets.
Jesse Yarnell, who served as President of Los Angeles Improvement Company was a California newspaperman who established the Los Angeles, California, Weekly Mirror, which took over the Los Angeles Times in 1881. Yarnell was the losing candidate on the Prohibition party ticket for an at-large Congressional seat in the 1882.
The stock ledger likely notes the extent of all shares sold in the company and lists numbers of shares and dividends paid. Shareholders include:
Jesse Yarnell
JM Thompson
WS Newhall
Ralph Rogers
WE Rogers
Edwin A Hall
Andrew Glassell
HC Witmer
Julius Lyons
HC Stratford
AI Hall
AV Witmer
Witmer Bros. and Co.
Sam Lewis
HE Hall
The indenture is issued to Belle T. Boynton for a lot marked Lot 14, Block J for a fee of $200.
Wonderful 1880's original source documents for a unique subdivision in a growing Los Angeles. Item #2366
Price: $750.00