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C. T. Richardson Contractor (Photo taken on January 14, 2024 by Scott Fajack on Calle Rosales & Calle Granada in Santa Barbara, CA).

Actually in the same advertisement as discussed in the last post, C. T. Richardson is surprisingly listed in the Trucking section (Santa Barbara News-Press, Volume 49, Number 83, 27 November 1926, pg. 17, accessed via the UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research CDNC). The subcategories are hauling and excavating.

"Westside History" by Walker A. Tompkins (1980) on Terry Ryken's real estate website states that Richardson "poured the concrete for the 'big glass studio' at State and Mission in 1913" and "got the demolition contract to erase his work in 1948."

According to Find a Grave, Charles T Richardson was born May 21, 1889 and died December 30, 1961 at age 72. He's buried in Carpinteria Cemetery in Santa Barbara County, CA. His parents were Maxwell Thompson Richardson and Francisca "Frances" Rodriguez Richardson. He was married to Hortense Claudia Villalba Richardson. He had two siblings (Anita and Josephine) and six children (Ervin, Charles E., Max, Fred, Charlotte, and James).

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John Edwards Contractor (Photo taken by Scott Fajack in Santa Barbara, CA on Donze Ave. near Olive St. on January 14, 2024)

Edwards provided free estimates and was located at 905 N. Milpas in Santa Barbara, CA per the 1922 Santa Barbara Classified Directory "issued by Santa Barbara Daily News."

According to the above beautiful advertisement for members of the Santa Barbara Builders Exchange, Edwards was a cement contractor still located at 905 Milpas in Santa Barbara, CA (Santa Barbara News-Press, Volume 49, Number 83, 27 November 1926, pg. 17, accessed via the UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research CDNC).

I couldn't find much biographical info on him, because his name is so common. However, I know he was married to Emma Holland Ryder and had a son named Edwin Ryder Edwards (October 7, 1922-August 14, 2016). According to his son's obituary in the Santa Barbara Independent, John was also in a cement contracting firm of Edwards & King.

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Brockman, O'Brien & Collings 1926 Contractors (Photo taken by Scott Fajack on December 17, 2023 on Whitmore Ave. near Landa St. in the Elysian Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA)

In 1926, they were located at 1566 Murray Circle (in the LA neighborhood of Silverlake; according to Zillow, it's a single family home built in 1923) and were awarded the contract by "bd. pub. wks. for st. work" at Prewett St. between Two Tree Avenue (I love this street name) and Minnesota St. and for Vaquera Ave. between Warwick Ave. and Martin St. (Building and Engineering News, Volume 26, Issue 2, 1926).

In the same year, they submitted the above bid to the Board of Public Works for 73rd St. from Western to 8th Avenues - his competition includes many firms I've written up before (Western Construction, Volume 1, King Publishing, 1926).

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M. P. Austin 1926/8 Contractor (I believe both these photos were taken by Tim Aarons, in 2021 on Tujunga near Hatteras in North Hollywood, CA and 2024 respectively)

In 1925, he was listed as having the address of General Delivery, Lankershim in Los Angeles, California. He got the contract for a reinforced concrete garage, drainage flume, water tank, and stage foundation for Universal Studios (Building and Engineering News, Volume 25, Issue 1, 1925).

M. P.'s wife was Mary C. Austin (California Appellate Decisions, Volume 96, California District Courts of Appeal, Recorder Print and Publishing Company, 1939). She was born in 1878 and died in 1956, at which point she was buried at the San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills, CA (Find a Grave).

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Carter Company Contractors and Developers 1970 (Photo taken by me on April 18, 2023 near Shatto Lanes)

According to Yelp, they were located at 425 Shatto Pl., Ste. 303, Los Angeles, CA 90020, so it makes sense that I took this photo near Shatto Lanes! (Yelp also says "Yelpers report this location has closed.")

According to Paul Jacobs (discussed later), the company started in the 1940s and spent twenty years focusing on office and industrial general contracting, but since the 1960s they "shifted to the ownership and operation of real estate investments" (Flying Magazine, June 1986, Volume 113, Number 6).

Carter Company Contractors and Developers was "a partnership formerly known as George W. Carter Co." per the Reports of the Tax Court of the United States (Volume 41, United States Tax Court, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1964). The partnership also included Ethel M. Carter, but she retired December 31, 1955. The partnership agreement was originally filed in 1950.

In 1959, Stuart M. Ketchum was the managing partner (Buildings -Volume 53, pg. 44, Stamats Publishing Company, 1959).

In 1986, Paul Jacobs was general manager of the company and he had rejoined the company in 1971 after being an Air Force pilot. The company was his family's business (Flying Magazine). There are amazing 80s preppy outfits and colorful photos available to see on Google Books.

As of at least 1997, they were located at 680 Wilshire Pl., Los Angeles, CA 9005-3931 which is near MacArthur Park (The Los Angeles JobBank, 1997, Bob Adams Publishers, Adams Media Corporation, 1996, pg. 114).

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It's my 10 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

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Auerbach Construction, Inc. (Photo taken by me, I think, on April 2, 2023 - I don't know whose hands that is.)

Auerbach Construction, Inc. was founded by Ernest Auerbach, who was born in 1916 in Brooklyn, NY and died on February 1, 2010 (this was actually quite difficult for me to be sure about but I now am). He is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, CA (findagrave.com). The below photo was added to Find a Grave by Romper90069.

In the Great Depression, "he grew and sold produce, and later became a producer broker." In World War II, he was in the Horse Cavalry of the U.S. Army. Moving to California after the war, he founded the Ernest Auerbach Company in Santa Monica, CA in 1946 for real estate construction, management, and financing.

According to the 1965 Westside City Directory, Auerbach at that point was still operating as Ernest Auerbach Co and was located at 11965 Montana Av, apartment 2 (City Directories Inc., accessed via the Los Angeles Public Library).

Apparently he was also a racehorse breeder, who started a thoroughbred breeding farm in San Diego County, CA in 1977 ("Ernest Auerbach, Santa Monica real estate developer, dies at 93," Jewish Journal, February 17, 2010).

He was the chairman of the board of the Auerbach Construction company and had "built 'something' on almost every street of [Santa Monica], from small residences to apartment houses" (LA Times). Same for much of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades. By 1987, he had "built more than 10 million square feet of commercial, retail and residential properties valued at more than $500 million." And at that time, they focused mostly on "industrial high-tech and commercial properties" through LA, Orange, and San Diego counties. Their headquarters since 1982 was Auerbach Plaza at 2001 Wilshire Blvd.

In 2001, he founded a bank that became the First Business Bank in San Diego, CA (Jewish Journal).

According to the Los Angeles Times, Auerbach was a "mild-mannered man with an uncanny eye for the right opportunity" ("By Veteran Developer: An Instant Replay of Santa Monica Values," Evelyn De Wolfe, The Los Angeles Times, April 5, 1987).

Rodney Freeman, who is Managing Partner of Metro Properties, includes his 18 years at Auerbach Construction, Inc. in his bio on Metro Properties's website. According to the aforementioned LA Times article, Freeman led Auerbach Construction Co. from at least 1987.

Simon Schreier, now of S. Schreier & Associates, Inc., was Senior Project Manager for Auerbach Construction from 1994 to 1997 (rocketreach.co).

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Whiteselle Cherry Reds Corsicana (Photo taken by me on December 10, 2022 at home in Roscomare canyon).

This is brick so a little off-brand still, but it's on the ground so I say it counts!

(I don't know who took the above photo but it was uploaded by D. W. Short to Find a Grave)

James Emerson Whiteselle was born on December 31, 1851 in Obion County, Tennessee but got to Texas in 1870 to work for his uncle's lumber company. In 1875, he started working at Carruthers Lumber Company. Eventually he owned it, changed the name to Whiteselle Brick and Lumber Company, and adding brick to the business. Their "cherry red bricks," were used all over Texas. At some point he was vice president of First national Bank there. He was also mayor of Corsicana, TX in 1894 (Corsicana, Tommy Stringer, Arcadia Publishing, 2010) until 1898 (HMdb.org). It was during his term as mayor that oil was discovered in town.

In 1900, Whiteselle was the secretery for the Corsicana, TX fair (The Billboard, October 20, 1900, Volume 12, Issue 25, Prometheus Global Media, Internet Archive).

As of 1907, Corsicana had 12,000 residents. The company's leadership was Whiteselle, president; C. R. Sherill, secretary and general manager; and J. R. Wilson, foreman. They had "about 39 acres of clay, which contains enough iron to burn a deep, rich red. IN places this iron ore is so pure that it must be removed, carloads of it, before the clay is mined, because too much of it makes the brick too brittle." The clay was "a shale, with no sand and few impurities besides the ochre and an occasional streak of a white, crumbly mineral which Mr. Sherill thinks is mica." ("The Whiteselle Brick & Lumber Co., Corsicana, Tex." Brick: A Record of the World's Progress in the Clay Industry, Volumes 26-27, Windsor and Kenfield, 1907).

In 1913, it seems Whiteselle owned land that he leased for a segregated movie theater in Houston, TX (Motography, January-June 1913, Electricity Magazine Corp., Media History Digital Library). Motography was published from 1909 through 1918 (originally entitled The Nickelodeon) and was a trade journal for American film.

He was also "influential in bringing the Texas Electric Railway Co." to Corsicana in the same year. Appropriately, he lived in a mansion made of brick (HMdb.org)!

He died on his birthday - December 31, 1915 (the photo of the tombstone was uploaded by Eva Whearley to Find a Grave).

Whiteselle Brick & Lumber Company applied for a trade-mark for "Red building brick" - class 1 "raw or partly prepared materials" (Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 659, United States Patent Office, 1952).

According to the Corsicana Semi-Weekly Light (what a title), "as of 1961 they were manufacturing between 50,000 and 60,000 Cherry Red bricks per day! The Corsicana brickyard employed 37 men. (Corsicana, Texas, Friday, April 28, 1961, accessed via Newspapers.com.)

In 1982, a historical marker was built by the Texas Historical Commission in Corsicana.

Other sources:

Fiftieth Anniversary: Golden Jubilee of Lumbermen's Association of Texas, Lumbermen's Association of Texas, 1936

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Union Iron Works of Los Angeles (Photo taken by me on July 27, 2024).

Another not sidewalk. Sorry! But this is an interesting placement, isn't it?

Union Iron works of Los Angeles, Inc. was founded in 1884 according to Victor C. Darnell's Directory of American Bridge-Building Companies 1840-1900 (Society for Industrial Archeology, 1984). To be included in this directory, the company had to build bridges or advertise that they built bridges, even if it was only once and "not their usual activity." However, according to the finding aid for LA County Incorporation Records collection of the Seaver Center for Western History Research, the articles of incorporation were filed in 1899, with principles D. P. N. Little and Horace G. Miller.

It's president in 1907 was Little, per this personal update:

(San Pedro Daily News, Volume 5, Number 249, July 3 1907, accessed via UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research California Digital Newspaper Collection). Interestingly, Little and Union Iron Works are listed separately in the aforementioned Directory of American Bridge-Building Companies, but with overlapping time periods. It's possible that Little was included as an engineer "who advertised as bridge builders, signing contracts for complete projects, making the designs, and subcontracting the actual construction."

Los Angeles Herald, Volume 35, Number 184, April 3 1908, accessed via UCR Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research California Digital Newspaper Collection.

Little was vice president of the Founders' and Employers' Association and Manufacturers' Association of Los Angeles, which this labor paper wasn't so happy about (Industrial Worker, Spokane, WA, June 22 1911). I'm just going to include some snippets:

They owned this tract, according to LA County Public Works land records recorded July 10, 1914.

The National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form for the Chapman Building (1922-23) in Fullerton, CA includes a listing of local companies involved in the construction. Union Iron Works of Los Angeles, for steel work, are the first in the list!

In 1924, they won the bid to erect eight steel factory buildings for Western Glass company in Fullerton, CA ("Give Contract for Factory Buildings," The Register, Santa Ana, CA, Monday, February 4, 1924, page 14, accessed via Newspapers.com).

In the same year, they were listed in the Directory of California Manufacturers for 'structural iron, iron work' at 5125 Santa Fe Av, Los Angeles (California Development Association, 1924, via archive.org). This address seems to no longer exist.

They built a plant northeast of "the latest subdivision" in 1927, near plants for Truscon Steel company and Goodrich Tire & Rubber and a Southern California Edison company sub-station ("Laguna-Bell and Maywood Gardens Put on Market," Daily News, Los Angeles, CA, Thursday, June 23, 1927, page 10, accessed via Newspapers.com).

In 1928, Union Iron Works merged with Llewellyn Iron Works and Baker Iron Works to become Consolidated Steel Corporation, which is now part of U.S. Steel.

In a 1954 publication by Cal Tech, we learn that Alden G. Roach, at the time president of the Columbia-Geneva Steel and Consolidated Western Steel Divisions of the United States Steel Corporation, was newly elected to the Institute Board of Trustees ("The Summer," October, 1954). He had been at the company since it had been Union Iron Works of Los Angeles (and was that endeavor's president in 1941).

See below for an update from 1955 from the earlier discussed Directory of American Bridge-Building Companies:

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H&D 2016 (Photo taken by me in San Diego, CA on November 26, 2022)

This is a currently operating company, so you can read their website. But some of the details are: they started in 1977; they "specialize in subdivisions and commercial parking lots;" they located in El Cajon, CA. I like their font choice!

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LA Pressed Brick Co (Photo taken by me July 23, 2022 at the Proper Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles).

This is a stretch because it's not a stamped sidewalk, but I'm taking an excursion into stamped roof territory today!

Today's Proper Hotel was originally the Commercial Club of Southern California. Read more at the L.A. Conservancy's website.

According to PCAD, the Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company was started in 1887 as the Los Angeles Pressed Brick and Terra Cotta Company by Charles H. Frost. Their "first factory complex operated from 1887 until 1916 on a site bounded by College Street (on the north) Alpine Street (south), Cleveland Street (east) and an alley that is no longer in existence to the west. This factory produced fire brick, pressed brick, cream, buff, red, gray and old gold standard and Roman-shaped bricks until it ceased operation in 1916." Frost was born in Ithaca, NY, lived in Chicago, IL, and started the business after he moved to Pasadena, CA. Some of the company's directors included Henry E. Huntington, William George Kerckhoff, Isaac Newton Van Nuys, and J. Ross Clark. The company name was shortened to Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company in 1894. You can read a lot more about them at PCAD.

We learn from Building and Engineering News, Volume 24, Issue 1, 1924 that "the Commercial Club of Southern California has taken a 90-day option on the property at 1124 S. Broadway as the site for a new Class A club building." The architect Edwin Bergstrom was commissioned to prepare plans for a 13-story building with a basement. According to the previously linked L.A. Conservancy page, the final architects were the famed Curlett and Beelman.

In the March 1, 1926 "Classified List of Members" of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, they were listed many times, including under:

Brick Manufacturers (Pressed, Glazed, Enameled, and Face)

Clay Products Manufacturers

Pipe Manufacturers (Sewer)

Terra Cotta Products (Architectural)

Tile Manufacturers (Roofing and Hollow)

They joined the chamber in 1891! As of 1926, they were located in the 13th floor of the Sun Finance Building, which was at 6th & Olive Streets, according to photo info in the USC's library collection

Los Angeles County: Some Facts and Figures, 1926, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, 1926.

Roofing tiles, Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company, 1915, accessed via archive.org.

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L. Glenn Switzer Contractor 1930 (Photo taken April 29, 2024 on Glenalbyn Dr. & Glenmuir Ave.)

According to the Los Angeles Times, L. Glenn Switzer died at the age of 96 on July 11, 1990, so he was born in either 1894 or 1893. He started "the first ready-mix concrete company in Southern California" in Pasadena in 1930. The company, Transit Mixed Concrete Co., worked "at construction sites throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties," in addition to manufacturing concrete blocks and panels. He was a Quaker and was "president of the national Conference of Quaker Men" in 1954" ("L. Glenn Switzer; Formed Ready-Mix Concrete Firm." Los Angeles Times, July 22, 1990.

In 1941, L. Glenn Switzer was the manager of Transit Mixed Concrete Co. They had multiple locations including 1000 North La Brea in Los Angeles, 3492 E Foothill Blvd. in Pasadena, and 780 Union Pacific Place, which doesn't currently exist but I think may be in Commerce, CA (Los Angeles City Directory 1941, Los Angeles City Directory Co., 1941).

In an advertisement in 1945, Transit Mixed Concrete Co described themselves as "Pioneers of Transit-Mixed Concrete in Southern California" (Southwest Builder and Contractor, Volume 106, F. W. Dodge Company, 1945).

According to Switzer v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, United States Tax Court, June 30, 1953, 20 T.C. 759 (U.S.T.C. 1953), L. Glenn Switzer and Howard A. Switzer were partners in the company in 1944-45. Their respective wives were Ida H. and Florence M. Apparently they didn't commit fraud with intent to evade tax, but the husbands were deficient due to negligence.

We learn from Find a Grave that L. was Lewis. He was born in Iowa in on June 26, 1894 and died in L.A. County on July 11, 1990. He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, CA. His wife, Ida, was born in Iowa and they married on December 29, 1915 in Marshall, Iowa. They had at least two sons (Elmo Glenn, Eugene Lewis) and one daughter (Mayme Elizabeth). She lived in Pasadena in the 1940 and 1950 censuses. She died on October 18, 1987 and was also buried in Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, CA.

Howard Allison Switzer was Lewis's brother (they also had four other siblings: Elias Claire, Gladys Lucile, Richard Kent, and Florence Eliza) and co-founder. He was born on July 30 or 31, 1908 in Ladora, Iowa and died on January 7, 1997 in Los Angeles, CA. He is also buried at Mountain View Cemetery and Mausoleum in Altadena, CA (Find a Grave). Their parents were Richard Martin Switzer and Carrie Estella Lewis. (The photo above is Howard in the 1920s, probably in Long Beach, CA, and was submitted to Find a Grave by 'jmb'.) According to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times, he had moved to Long Beach, CA in 1920 with his parents and sister. "He joined his father and older brother in their concrete contracting company after graduating from Long Beach High School." This company was a predecessor to Transit Mix Concrete Company, which, according to the same obituary, was "credited with using the first concrete mixer trucks, which prepare the concrete to be poured once it gets to the job site" (January 9, 1997). Howard moved to Pasadena in 1932 and married Florence.

She lived to 105 and had lived her whole life in Pasadena, CA! They had four sons: Forrest, Roy, Marshall, and Norman. She was "known as Flossie to most of her friends." ("Florence Switzer Obituary," Pasadena Star-News).

Other sources:

The Tax Fortnighter Annual, Fallon Publications, 1954

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S & J Cement San Diego, CA. 1981 (Photo taken by Tim Aarons in Oceanside, CA in July of 2024)

Current company!

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Bosko & Konjevod Contractors 1929 (Photo taken by Rachel Hughes in Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles in November of 2023)

Bosko & Konjevod were located at 3751 Dozier St., Los Angeles, CA. (Western Construction News, Volume 2, 1927). In 1927, they were one of many bids by contractor firms I've written about before to improve Pico Blvd. from Purdue to Centinela Avenues:

They won the "contract for paving in Isabel Drive & Future St. imp. dist." in Los Angeles for $105,374.00 (Western Machinery and Steel World, Volume 19, pg. 96, 1928) for the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works.

From the 1928 and 1929 editions of the Los Angeles City Directory, we learn that Bokso & Konjevod are Ivan Konjevod, cement finisher; Louis B Konjevod (married to Mary); and Robert Bosko (married to Julia). It looks like the Dozier address was actually Robert's house and by 1929 the business was located at 3051 Coolidge Ave, where they were listed as street contractors (Los Angeles Directory Company, 1928 & 1929, accessed via the Los Angeles Public Library).

Turns out that Ivan B. Konjevod was enlisted in the Second Regiment of Engineers in WWI - he was a corporal (The Official History of the Second Regiment of Engineers and Second Engineer Train, United States Army, in the World War, pg. 164, "Appendix No. 7: List of All Enlisted Men with Chronological Record of Campaigns, Decorations, Etc." United States Army Corps of Engineers, Regiment, 2nd, William Augustus Mitchell, San Antonio Printing Company, 1920).

Ivan B. Konjevod was a delegate from Los Angeles to the 9th convention of the Croation Fraternal Union of America (Zajednicar, August 10, 1955, pg. 11).

Ivan B. Konjevod was born January 24, 1888 in Selo Burmazi, Hercegovina and died September 6, 1978 (U.S. Social Security Death Index via MyHeritage and Croatians in California, 1849-1999, pg. 602, Adam S. Eterovich, Ragusan Press, 2000). His last known residence was Glendale, CA 91208. He is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, CA (Find a Grave). Robert "Bosko" Boskovich was born March 12, 1889 and died October 31, 1942. He's buried in Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles, CA (Find a Grave).

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Norman F. Barber General Contractor Los Angeles (Photo taken by Rachel Hughes on April 14, 2024 around Downtown Los Angeles)

In 1912, Norman designed a garage and stable for Richardson, Holmes & Lamb Co., which was constructed by Barber-Bradley Const Co. I'm guessing Barber was the Barber in that company. In the same year, Barber was one of two architects for a concrete store and loft building in downtown Los Angeles for Alexander Meyer, again built by Barber-Bradley. Barber-Bradley were located at 1824 East 15th St. (Southwest Contractor and Manufacturer, Volume 10, Engineers and Architects Association of Southern California, 1912 and Engineering News, Volume 69, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1913). In 1909 they were located at 212 W. 3d. (Engineering World: A Weekly Technical Journal of Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, mining and Architectural Engineering and Construction, Volume 5, Engineering World Publishing Company, 1907 and Brown, Charles Carroll. Directory of American Cement Industries, Municipal Engineering, 1909). They filed for incorporation on August 1, 1906 in Los Angeles (pg. 36, Annual Report of the Secretary of State, California Secretary of State, California State Printing Office, 1908). By 1907, they were already working on some big projects, like "erecting a manufacturing plant at 2620 Lacy St." for Talbert-Whitmore Co. (Engineering World, March 29, 1907).

In the 1913 Los Angeles City Directory, Barber is listed as a draftsman who lived at 4342 S Flower (Los Angeles Directory Co., Inc., accessed via LAPL).

In 1917, Barber-Bradley was "awarded the general contract ... for the erection of a brick and concrete school building at West Vernon and Olive Sts. in accordance with plans and specifications by Archt. W.C. Pennell." This year also has the only bid I see Barber-Bradley lost! They were not selected to build the "training quarters and bleachers at the new Los Angeles High School site" Some other projects from this year: remodeling the Eisner & Co. store in the Hayward Hotel building, including all work except for tile flooring and including but not limited to "plate and prism glass and marble fronts, mahogany finish and fixtures;" "repairing the fire damage to the 1-story brick warehouse on San Fernando St., opposite the Southern Pacific freight depot, for the Union Warehouse Company; "fitting up a room at 330 S. Main St. for a barber ship (sic);" erecting a brick and concrete school building on the 24th St. school site; and "alterations to Miller's Theatre at Ninth and Main Sts" such as adding a store room adjoining the lobby and a women's bathroom (Southwest Builder and Contractor, Volume 50, F. W. Dodge Company, 1917).

In 1919, Norman was a 'member' of Geo. F. Barber, Sons & Co, a general contracting business located at 4342 S. Flower St. The other member was George F. Barber, which I am guessing was his father (Southwest Builder and Contractor, F.W. Dodge Company, 1919).

Barber lost a bid to build Inglewood's new city hall building to W. M. Bell (Building and Engineering News, Volume 23, Issue 1, 1923) .

Norman F. Barber was the original owner and contractor of the 2-storey single residence at 2615 N. Commonwealth Avenue (Los Feliz Improvement Association Historical Residential Survey 3rd Edition Volume IV: Streets Beginning with Cl to Cu, Los Feliz Improvement Association, 2019).

There was a Norman F. Barber who wrote "Directional recording of swell from distant storms" with Walter H. Munk, Gaylor R. Miller, and Frank E. Snodgrass, as listed in Scripps Institution of Oceanography Contributions Index Vols. 1-39, 1938-1969.

In 1938, "approximately 25 tons of asbestos per month [were] mined from the Canadian mine, located near Chrysotile, Arizona, under the direction of Norman F. Barber, lessee, Box 1010, Globe, Arizona" by four men. The property was owned by the Globe-Los Angeles Mining Company (The Mining Journal for July 15, 1938).

Norman supervised the construction "of 100 unites for Marble Manor Housing, a Public Housing Authority project in Las Vegas, Nev." (Western Construction, Volume 27, King Publications, 1952).

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Galer & Beckner Contractors (Photo taken by Rachel Hughes in Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA in November of 2023).

They were listed at 447 W San Fernando Rd, Burbank under "Cement Contractors" in the 1922 Southwest Builder and Contractor (Volume 59, F. W. Dodge Company). In the same volume, we see that they were the builder of four 4-room dwellings at 4211-13 W Cumberland Ave for Mrs. Mary F Howe of 5311 Sunset Blvd. They also had a lien against Ida M. Randolph for a lot in the subdivision of Rancho Providencia and Scott Tract.

The best resource for this contracting firm is the "Burbank City Directory 1922" section of the San Fernando Valley City Directory 1922, with a very large number of classified listings in different related categories, including:

Contractors--Buildings

Contractors--Cement

Contractors--Concrete

Contractors--General

Contractors--Grading

Contractors--Road

Engineers--Civil

Engineers--Consulting

Engineers--Municipal (this one was listed twice for some reason)

Engineers--Structural

Surveyors

In the same directory were non-classified listings and included many people who worked for Galer & Beckner (the company itself was listed as Contractors and Engineers):

Fred G Beckner, married to Olive, lived at 629 Angeleno

John Booza, "lab" (maybe just 'laborer'?), lived in Glendale

L Ray Crum, cement worker

Arthur Esterbrook, foreman

John W Galer, married to Mabel, lived in Glendale

Emerson D Jones, "lab," lived in Los Angeles

Theo C Krigbaum, foreman, lived at Elizabeth Hotel

Jack C Truitt, truck driver, lived at Elizabeth Hotel

(Los Angeles Directory Company, 1922, accessed via the Los Angeles Public Library).

You'll see some say 447 W 2d and some say San Fernando Blvd. The illustrated ad above does "447 W. 2d (San Fernando Blvd.)" so I'm guessing we were in a transitional period here.

A fun section in the directory is the not very secret listing of "Secret Societies."

It seems like Beckner had also done surveying work on his own. Here are three examples from "US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management Field Notes of the Dependent Resurvey of a Portion of the West Boundary and a Portion of the Subdivisional Lines, the Subdivision of Sections 17 and 18, and the Metes-and-Bonds Survey of Certain National Park Service Tracts in Sections 17 and 18, Being a Portion of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Boundary, in Township 1 South, Range 18 West, of the San Bernardino Meridian in the State of California" <-- Wow that was a long title, the survey was 'executed by' Robert B. Fink and Richard S. Kaiser, cadastral surveyors, from January 24 - September 21, 1989.

In 1909, Beckner wrote an about about himself in the alumni magazine of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity (Shield and Diamond, Volume 19).

(Turns out I did an early post on this firm also. Although it's much shorter, it includes some different information.)

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S. A. Chase Artificial Stone 80 Douglass St. (Photo by Tim Aarons in San Francisco, CA on 12th Ave. in April of 2024)

80 Douglass St. is between The Castro and Corona Heights neighborhoods of San Francisco today. It's an 1800 sq ft multi-family home that was built in 1910, according to Redfin.

Artificial stone is an early term for sidewalk concrete (Oakland Underfoot).

In 1926, S. A. Chase had a lien filed against Florence Perry, John Doe Campbell, James F Ludlow, and John Doe McDonald in San Francisco (Building and Engineering News, Volume 26, Issue 2, 1926).

It looks like at some point the company became S. A. Chase & Son Concrete Contractor, at the same address with phone number MArket 1-2902 (Spotlight Exhibits at the UC Berkeley Library, UC Berkeley Library Digital Assets).

It's possible our S. A. Chase is the Samuel A Chase who was born in Russia in 1880 and died in 1943 in Stockton, CA, but we have no way of knowing currently (FindaGrave).