The Southern Development Company of Nevada
1881-1957

The Southern Development Company of Nevada was incorporated on October 6, 1881, with trustees H. M.Yerington, D. L. Bliss, D.A. Bender, W. D. Tobey, and H. L. Tickner, declaring its place of business as Carson City, Nevada. Among the stated purposes of the company were to buy and sell land, build and operate toll roads, locate and hold water rights and privileges in order to construct waterways and systems, and to acquire lands for timbering. Almost immediately the company consolidated its operation. The Walker Lake and Bodie Toll Road Company and the Walker Lake Wood and Lumber Company both incorporated on October 16, 1880, with similar trustees, as well as the town of Hawthorne and its waterworks. The town of Hawthorne came into being as the terminus of the Carson and Colorado Railroad in April of 1881, a company composed of some of the same directors as those of the Southern Development Company.

Company activities from 1881 to 1900 centered on timbering on company lands, operating the toll road from Hawthorne, Nevada, to Bodie, California, and developing the town of Hawthorne. After the turn of the century, timbering declined and Hawthorne lost the railroad and its status as county seat of Esmeralda. (It again became a county seat in 1911, when Mineral County was created). The company’s major business activities during those years were managing Hawthorne’s water supply, liquidating its town property, and controlling miners who were prospecting on company land. Business gradually declined, and the Southern Development Company finally dissolved in 1920.

Scope and Content

The records of the Southern Development Company of Nevada consist of three cubic feet. Material in the collection covers the period from 1880 to 1957, and includes correspondence, articles of incorporation, fire insurance policies, deeds, legal documents, tax statements, property assessments, receipts, accounts, payrolls, time books, township plats, and hand drawn diagrams and maps. Early material is original and hand written. Later material is typed and copied.

Records of the Walker Lake and Bodie Toll Road Company and the Walker Lake Wood and Lumber Company have been incorporated into the collection, but each has been maintained as a separate series. However, some documents and references to both companies may be found in the general correspondence and financial statements series, as well.

 

This collection is arranged in the following series:

• Series 1     Correspondence
• Series 2     Walker Lake and Bodie Toll Road Company
• Series 3     Walker Lake Wood and Lumber Company
• Series 4     Southern Development Company Papers and Real Estate
• Series 5     Financial Statements and Accounts

 

Box 1    Series 1     NC74/1     Correspondence, 1880-1924.

This series contains five letterpress books from 1880-1916. (One book is apparently missing, 1884-1887). Books one through four contain references to the Walker Lake Wood and Lumber Co., the Walker Lake and Bodie Toll Road Co., and the Carson and Colorado Railroad. Book five, 1909-1919, deals mainly with the Southern Development Company. The books are loose in the box, arranged chronologically.

Loose correspondence covers the period, 1880-1924, with the heaviest concentration in the years 1909 and 1910. The major topics of concern in the loose correspondence are mining claims on company land, the development of the city of Hawthorne, Nevada, and the company’s water interests in and around Hawthorne. The correspondence is arranged chronologically in 15 folders.

 

Box  2    Series 2     NC74/2     Walker Lake and Bodie Toll Road Company, 1880-1901.

This series contains records of the Walker Lake and Bodie Toll Road Company, incorporated on October 16, 1880, and absorbed by the Southern Development Company the following year. The records in this series cover the period 1880-1901 and include Articles of Incorporation, 1880; correspondence, 1880-1901; accounts and receipts, 1892-1898; toll receipts, 1896-1897; time books, Aug.- Nov., 1880. Material is arranged chronologically in 6 folders and 4 envelopes containing the time books.

 

Box 2    Series 3     NC74/3     Walker Lake and Lumber Company, 1880.

This series contains the records of the Walker Lake Wood and Lumber Company, incorporated on October 16, 1880, and absorbed by the Southern Development Company the following year. It is sometimes referred to in Southern Development Company records as the Walker Lake Timber Lands, and its records are scattered throughout the larger collection. The documents in this series are all from 1880 and include the Articles of Incorporation, two deeds, several township plats including timberland location, and duplicates of land purchase receipts. 3 folders.

 

Box 2    Series 4     NC74/4     Southern Development Company Papers and Real Estate, 1881-1957.

Company papers of the Southern Development Company of Nevada, except correspondence and financial statements and accounts, are contained in this series. Included are Articles of Incorporation, 1881; fire insurance policies, 1882-1889; legal papers including court cases, 1882-1957; deeds, 1882-1910; township plats, and three hand drawn maps indicating mining claims in and around company land (2 maps located in manuscript map case.). A folder of newspaper clippings and printed material is also included. 10 folders.

 

Box 3    Series 5     NC74/5     Financial Statements and Accounts, 1881-1917.

This series contains the financial records of the Southern Development Company from 1881 to 1919. References to the Walker Lake and Bodie Toll Road Company, the Walker Lake Wood and Lumber Company, and the Hawthorne water works are also in the documents. Included are tax statements from Esmeralda and (after 1911) Mineral Counties, Nevada, 1882-1919; receipts, 1881-1917; payrolls and time rolls from the company’s various operations, 1882-1902; statement of accounts, 1916; balance sheets, 1896, 1916-1917; bank books, 1888-1891, 1893-1904. 24 folders.

 

Box 4     Series 5    NC74/5        Financial Statements and Accounts (cont.)

    NC74/5/25    2 account books and 2 bank books.

    NC74/5/26    Cancelled checks, loose (folders #1-5).

    NC74/5/27    Check book, bound.

Manuscripts | Special Collections

Please direct questions to Jacquelyn Sundstrand
Updated August 12, 2008