“The Pacific Coast Business Directory is intended to be a triennial publication, which will contain the name and post office address of each merchant, manufacturer, and professional engaged in business in the States and Territories bordering on or in the immediate vicinity of the Pacific Coast, with such information connected with the resources of that section of the country as will best exhibit their variety, character, and extent; together with any other data of general interest that will add to the value of the work as a useful manual of reference.”
The above extract from the preface of the first volume of The Pacific Coast Business Directory sets forth the general plan adopted in the preparation of the material for the present work. Such additions and alterations in the arrangement of the work as time and experience suggested have been taken advantage of, and every effort made to render its pages more attractive than the previous issues, and in every respect thoroughly reliable.
A brief reference to the contents of the present volume will show the extent and the important character of the information contained therein. The first part of the work contains the organization of the Federal Government at Washington and on the Pacific Coast, and the officers thereof— including accurate lists of the Post Offices and Postmasters— with a variety of useful data of a general character ; part second embraces the organization of the different States and Territories on the Pacific Coast, and the officers attached thereto, with appropriate references to the various departments of each; and a carefully prepared exhibit of the resources of each of the States and Territories included in the plan of the work. In this department, the agricultural, the mineral, the commercial, and the manufacturing interests have each received careful attention, and a large amount of valuable information— including lists of Quartz, Saw and Grist Mills, and the most important manufacturing enterprises in operation and in progress— will be found embraced therein. Following each State and Territory will be found a Gazetteer of the Counties, Cities, and Towns composing the same, with the address of each merchant, manufacturer and professional residing therein. Over five hundred counties, cities, and towns in this part of the work are each pro-faced by an accurate description of its resources and prospective advantages, the whole comprising an amount of information not to be found in any other publication. This department also includes one of the most valuable and important features of the work, a classified Business Directory, containing the name of each merchant, manufacturer, and professional in the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Alaska, and the Colony of British Columbia, arranged under the head of the business or profession in which he is engaged. The Gazetteer and Business Directory contain over fifty thousand addresses residing in twenty-five hundred and sixty-six different localities, nearly twice as many names as are contained in any other publication issued on the Pacific Coast; of this number thirty-five thousand, representing one thousand three hundred and eighty different localities, are in the State of California. An analytical table of contents, and full and complete indices are added, which exhibit at a glance the variety and character of the subjects referred to in this work, and greatly facilitate reference thereto.
The Pacific Coast business directory for 1876-1878
Containing the name and post office address of each merchant, manufacturer and professional residing in the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada; the territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Alaska; and the colony of British Columbia. Also, a gazetteer of the counties, cities, and towns, with the Federal, State and municipal Officers attached thereto, and an exhibit of the resources of the Pacific Coast.
The labor and expense of collecting the material for a work of the character of the Coast Directory, and the amount of careful, patient, and persistent labor necessary to prepare it for the press, can be scarcely realized by the uninitiated. In addition to a number of special canvassing agents, who visited every prominent locality in the territory embraced in the plan of the work, over twelve thousand communications and blanks of various descriptions have been forwarded to the different Federal, State, County, and Municipal officers, and a numerous list of special correspondents engaged in developing the resources of the Pacific Coast. From these different sources a larger amount of material has been secured, when its completeness is considered, than has been heretofore collected on the Pacific Coast. To what practical use it has been devoted, the pages of the work must testify; and the compiler therefore submits the result of his labors to the careful consideration of his patrons, and only asks that indulgence for any defects existing therein which is reasonable, after a due appreciation of the numerous difficulties usually attend-ant upon similar enterprises.
In conclusion, the compiler would again express his obligations to his numerous correspondents, for their ready and willing assistance. To Messrs. Wells, Fargo & Co. he is especially indebted, for their prompt and courteous cooperation in placing at his disposal the aid of their numerous and gentlemanly representatives on the Pacific Coast. He would also express his thanks to Mr. Myron Angel, for his important contributions on the resources of the States and Territories of the Pacific Coast, and the descriptions of the counties and cities composing the same. Also to the editors of the different newspapers, for the interest manifested in the success of the enterprise; to his patrons, for their substantial evidence of good will; and to Messrs. Francis & Valentine, for the care bestowed on the execution of the typo, graphical department of the work.
Notes About the Book
- This was a difficult book to scan. Some words throughout the book are cut off. The binding was extremely tight and the book has a thick hard cover.
Source
Langley, Henry G., The Pacific Coast business directory for 1876-1878: Containing the name and post office address of each merchant, manufacturer and professional residing in the states of California, Oregon, and Nevada; the territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Alaska; and the colony of British Columbia. Also, a gazetteer of the counties, cities, and towns, with the Federal, State and municipal Officers attached thereto, and an exhibit of the resources of the Pacific Coast. San Francisco : H.G. Langley, 1876.