1760

Lake Mining Company Stock Certificate (101513)

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Stock & Bond - Mining Start Price:300.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 1,000.00 USD
Lake Mining Company Stock Certificate   (101513)
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Location: Lake County, California. Inc. April 17th, 1863. No. 12(?), issued for 20 shares to George W. Gilman on June 8th, 1863. Signed by president John Redington (a major drug manufacturer) and secretary Horatio Livermore. Not cancelled. Black border and print, green background. Small vignette of California state seal. Printed by Towne & Bacon, SF. 25 cent adhesive IR stamp. Deep folds, some creases and nicks to edges. Not in Filer or Holabird indexes. John H. Redington and H. P. Livermore were also officers of the Natoma Water and Mining Company, the largest owner of water rights in the county, organized in 1851. Sometimes referred to as the father of Russian Hill in San Francisco, Horatio P. Livermore, the son of industrialist, public-utility pioneer and state Sen. Horatio G. Livermore, acquired the "Livermore House" in 1889 at Florence and Jones streets and today remains one of the oldest houses of the original enclave. Horatio was also a founder of the Olympic Club back in 1860 in a downtown firehouse. In 1888 he launched a lumber enterprise similar to the timbering plan designed years before by his father. Initially the log drives were difficult in the boulder-strewn river, and the expensive experiment was abandoned. But Horatio P. had another idea which paid off. In the late 1880's he began to see that by the time the dam was finished water power as a direct motive force for the wheels of industry would be superseded by electric power. He believed that the water of the American River could turn generators for electricity in Sacramento, 22 miles downstream, in spite of the fact that up to that time electric power had never been transmitted more than five miles. His belief was not without foundation. It was obvious (to him) that the water power developed at Folsom Dam should be used for production of electric power and that the market for that power was in Sacramento. But finding knowledgeable people who would agree that electricity could be transmitted such a distance economically was not easy. Livermore learned of the advances made by Frank J. Sprague in the development of a direct-current motor for operation of electric railways. This gave him an idea. Folsom power could be used to operate the Sacramento street railways. Confident that a way could be found, he went ahead. To arm himself with a negotiating weapon, he personally obtained a franchise to build an electric railway system in Sacramento, regardless of the fact that the Central Electric Railway Company had been operating its cars by battery for the past year. Livermore actually built a stretch of double track on H Street. Next he wrote to Sprague, who had installed electric streetcars in Richmond, Virginia, stating his problem in detail. Sprague offered to design a workable system. Convinced then, that he was on the right course, Livermore incorporated the Sacramento Electric Power and Light Company, November 5, 1892, to build the powerhouse and construct the long-distance power line and a distribution station in the capital city. He also assigned to the new corporation the street railway franchise. Finally, the Westinghouse Company sent Engineer L. B. Stillwell to California to investigate. Armed with all the data, he returned to Pittsburgh and eventually his company submitted a plan, explaining meanwhile that the whole problem was theoretical and their suggested solution experimental. When General Electric heard of the Westinghouse activities, it also developed a new interest in the Folsom project and sent Engineer F. O. Blackwell and Professor Louis Bell to study the problem. G. E., on the basis of its experts' reports, followed its competitor with an offer to build the Folsom system. Livermore had won his point. The new Sacramento Electric Power and Light Company was to build and operate the system, taking its water on lease from the Folsom Water Power Company. Though Horatio P. plays a major role in the story of the Folsom Powerhouse, a principal partner in Horatio's ventures was his brother, Charles E. Livermore. Though both brothers had interests in the wholesale drug business and quicksilver mining, among others, their main concern was the development of water power at Folsom. Charles was at the head of the company when the plant began operations. Ken Prag Collection

Date: 1863
City/County: Lake County
State: California