Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Tacoma Land & Improvement Co. Records, 1872-1923
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Tacoma Land & Improvement Co.
- Title
- Tacoma Land & Improvement Co. Records
- Dates
- 1872-1923 (inclusive)18721923
- Quantity
- 4.7 cubic feet, (8 boxes and 2 oversized ledgers)
- Collection Number
- MS-001
- Summary
- Incorporated in 1873, the Tacoma Land & Improvement Co. was organized by the Northern Pacific Railroad to develop land in and around Tacoma, Washington. Materials in this collection are from the estate of Frederick Bilings who was president of the Northern Pacific Railroad from 1879 to 1881.
- Repository
-
Tacoma Public Library Northwest Room, Special Collections & Archives
1102 Tacoma Avenue South
Tacoma, WA
98402
Telephone: 2532922001
nwr@tacomalibrary.org - Access Restrictions
-
This collection is available for research.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Soon after it selected Tacoma as the terminus for its western line in 1873, the Northern Pacific Railroad formed a subsidiary, the Tacoma Land Company, to develop the city and sell the town lots. It was first incorporated as the Southern Improvement Company and immediately renamed the Tacoma Land Company.
The first president of the company was Charles Barstow Wright, an officer in the Northern Pacific Railroad who had been a member of the committee that selected Tacoma as the western terminus location. Fellow Northern Pacific officer Frederick Billings was vice-president, and John C. Ainsworth, owner of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, was third director. Wright, Billings and Ainsworth invested personally in Tacoma and were involved with the early development of the city.
Tacoma Land Company was reorganized in 1899 and renamed the Tacoma Land & Improvement Co. The Tacoma Land & Improvement Co. was dissolved in 1923.
These records are from the estate of former Tacoma Land Company vice-president Frederick Billings, who also served as president of the Northern Pacific Railroad from 1879 to 1881.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Includes articles of incorporation; correspondence; minutes of the Board of Trustees, Board of Directors, stockholders, and other committees; financial records including ledgers and stock registers; legal documents including deeds and resolutions, and reports to stockholders.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
Tacoma Land & Improvement Co. Records; MS-001; box [ ]; Northwest Room Special Collections, Tacoma Public Library, Tacoma, WA.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Northern Pacific Railway Company--History
- Railroads--United States
Personal Names
- Ainsworth, J.C. (John Commingers), 1822-1893
- Billings, Frederick, 1823-1890
- Hosmer, Theodore, 1843-1900
- Wright, Charles Barstow, 1822-1898
Corporate Names
- Northern Pacific Railway Company
- Southern Improvement Company
- Tacoma Land & Improvement Co.
- Tacoma Land Company
Geographical Names
- Tacoma (Wash.)--History
Finding aid prepared by Jean Fisher
2013
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
