Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. .67 linear foot (1 box, 2 volumes)

Summary

1. Project logbooks, 1890-1906, of Thomas Crimmins Contracting Company and antecedent partnerships, a major New York City construction contracting firm specializing in excavation and foundation work for commercial and private properties and public works. Founded by Thomas Crimmins in the 1840s, the Irish-American family business rose to prominence under the direction of his son John D. Crimmins (1844-1917). It ceased construction work in the 1990s. The logbooks document work for over 200 projects, almost entirely at sites in Manhattan and the Bronx. There are a few sites in western Queens County, including the Crimmins Realty Company, as well as plans for a trolley line in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. Projects include large private residences, public libraries, schools, churches, hospitals, municipal buildings, factories, breweries, hotels, and charitable institutions, as well as major transportation and utility projects, reflecting the expansion of the City's infrastructure at the turn of the 20th century. Project logs, varying in detail, typically contain the project name, contract text, specifications, estimates, and work notes, with engineering plans for excavations, foundations, paving work, and grading levels, as appropriate. Later logs are usually only titled plans. The collection also contains loose notes and computations, a 1901 letter of introduction for an engineer, and an oversize loose plan. Each volume contains an index.

Subject

1. Public utilities > New York (State) > New York > Design and construction
2. Railroads, Cable > New York (State) > New York > Design and construction
3. Public works > New York (State) > New York > Design and construction
4. Foundation plans
5. Construction projects > New York (State) > New York
6. Street-railroads > New York (State) > New York > Design and construction
7. Construction industry > Specifications
8. Thomas Crimmins Contracting Company
9. Construction workers
10. Construction industry > New York (State) > New York
11. New York (N.Y.) > Buildings, structures, etc
12. Crimmins, John D (John Daniel), 1844-1917

Genre/Form

1. Foundation plans.

Call number

1. MssCol 22278

Access (note)

1. Advance notice required. Apply at http://www.nypl.org/mssref.

Source (note)

1. Purchased from Swann Galleries, 2013

Location of other archival materials (note)

1. Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.

Author

1. Thomas Crimmins Contracting Company.

Title

1. Thomas Crimmins Contracting Company project logbooks, 1890-1906.

Restricted access

1. Advance notice required. Apply at http://www.nypl.org/mssref.

Location of other archival materials

1. John D. Crimmins diary, 1897; Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library.

Source

1. Purchased from Swann Galleries, 2013

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Occupation

1. Construction workers.

Research call number

1. MssCol 22278