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University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library

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Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2113, USA
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Start Over Repository University of Michigan Bentley Historical Library Collection Fargo Engineering Company records, 1897-1951 (majority within 1910-1930)
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Fargo Engineering Company records, 1897-1951 (majority within 1910-1930)

11 linear feet

Company established by William G. Fargo of Jackson, Michigan, a pioneer in hydroelectric engineering. The company specialized in providing civil engineering design, construction, and consultation services for various power plant projects and dams mainly in Michigan but also in Connecticut, Iowa, Nebraska, Texas, and Wisconsin. The record group consists of two series: Job Files and Office Files. The Job Files series consists of the following subseries: Alphabetical Cross Index of Jobs, Visual Materials, Design Reports and Site Specific Materials, and Engineering Field Notes. The Office Files series includes business correspondence of William G. Fargo for the period of 1897 to 1905 and relating in part to the construction of an interurban/electric trolley system for Jackson, Michigan. Office Files also includes a folder of office specifications, contracts and test procedures and a folder of published promotional sales material.

The records of the Fargo Engineering Company consists design reports, field notes, and photographs of various dam an power plant construction projects as well as office files, primarily correspondence. The records consist of eleven linear feet of materials dating from 1897 to 1951 with the bulk of the documents dating from 1910 to 1930. The record group has been divided into two series: Job Files and Office Files.

Folder

Visual Materials

The Visual Materials subseries (6.5 linear feet) consists mainly of single site photograph albums, arranged alphabetically by state (Connecticut, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Texas, and Wisconsin). These albums are further arranged alphabetically by construction site within the appropriate state. The albums document various hydroelectric, power plant, and dam construction projects undertaken by Fargo Engineering Company mainly in the period from 1906 to 1940. Within the Wisconsin grouping, however, there are four photograph albums which date from 1949 to 1951. The Michigan grouping is the largest, and contains extensive visual documentation of many large lower peninsula power projects undertaken between 1905 and 1937. Individual photographs in the albums have been well documented by Fargo Engineering, with most containing a job number and (or) date on each print. An attempt has been made in this finding aid to supply a location, Fargo job number, and surrounding dates for each album. The researcher can discover alternate names and the client for each job by referring to the Alphabetical Cross Index Of Jobs mentioned above.

While most of the state albums contain jobs for that state alone, there are some exceptions within the Michigan albums. The Irving Powerhouse and Dam album contains the Inks Dam in Texas, the Elk Rapids album contains the Nashua Dam in Iowa, and the Miscellaneous Michigan Sites album contains one site in Sheboygan, Wisconsin as well as multiple Michigan sites.

The Visual Materials subseries also includes seven glass plate negatives (unidentified), four multiple-site photograph albums, a single unidentified site in a post album, two folders of loose photograph album pages (Michigan and non-Michigan sites), and three folder of individual photographs (labeled Michigan, non-Michigan, and unidentified work sites).

In: Fargo Engineering Company records, 1897-1951 (majority within 1910-1930)Job Files
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