Amalgamated Sugar Company–Lewiston Sugar Company Records, (1905-1921)
COLL MSS 278
Historical Note:
The Lewiston sugar beet plant operated from 1905 to 1971. With significant encouragement and influence from the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, David Eccles, Charles W. Nibley, and others combined to finance factories in
Ogden (1898), Logan (1901), and Lewiston (1905). The plant in Lewiston was named the Lewiston Sugar Company until it–along
with the Ogden and Logan plants–merged into the Amalgamated Sugar Company in 1915. The peak year for production at the
Lewiston plant was 1920. During its operation the company purchased substantial amounts of stock in the Oneida Irrigation
District to obtain influence over the area’s water rights. Beet Contracts–between the factory and the farmer–could be
viewed as ‘binding contracts of serfdom,’ which possibly pushed farmers to abandon the beet farming industry for more
profitable crops. (Powell John L.) The factory operated until its abandonment 1971. Within one year after its closing, the
building was purchased by Presto Products, which manufactures plastic goods. The building is located at 1200 East 200
South, Lewiston Utah.
Sources for further information:
Arrington, Leonard J., Beet Sugar in the West; A History of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, 1891-1966, University of Washington Press. 1966 (Special Collections call # 338.17633 Ar69)
Arrington, Leonard J., David Eccles; Pioneer Western Industrialist, Utah State University Press. 1975 (Special Collections call # 920 Ec27)
Powell, John L. ‘The Role of Beet Growers in Cache Valley; Sugar Beet Industry 1898-1981.’ Thesis. 1995 (Special Collections–Thesis)
Bernhisel, John M. III., History of Lewiston (Special Collections call # 979.27 B457).
Provenance Note:
This collection was donated on December 17, 1999 by W. Chip Anderson, Acting Plant Manager of Presto Products. The collection was discovered in the attic of the Presto Products (home of the former sugar beet plant) in Lewiston. Presto representatives contacted Special Collections and offered to donate the materials for historical study.
Scope and Content Note:
This collection consists of thirty-six boxes and thirty-three oversized record books containing documentation relating to the Lewiston Sugar Company and its merger with the Amalgamated Sugar Company. Along with the thirty-three oversized books, many smaller sized record books are contained inside the thirty-six box collection. The voucher (receipts and invoices) and returned checks collections consist of a ten percent sample from the original donation. The voucher collection also contains other special interest invoices, such as payroll, beets hauled, and tax records. Although the box and book collections appear together in the inventory list, they are physically stored separately. The records span from 1905 to 1921. This collection is organized into two series.
Series I contains records relating to the financial aspect of the business and the interaction of the company with farmers.
For a financial assessment of the company consult the monthly financial reports, returned checks, invoice books & vouchers, payroll, letters of correspondence, and sugar sales. The oversized record books provide a useful view of how the business functioned, but they only provide data from 1905-10. Boxes labeled as financial records along with boxes containing vouchers and returned checks contain information that continue where the oversized books leave off. Payroll is covered from 1905-07 and 1913-18 in oversized books, vouchers, and payroll booklets. Sugar sale and production information is found in oversized books and sugar account receipt booklets.
For an assessment of company-farmer relations examine beet contracts, voucher records on beet haulers and farmers, field books, receipt booklets of seeds furnished, the ledger book, and letters of correspondence.
Series II contains shipping records of beets deliveries and sugar exportation.
The Monthly Shipping Reports (boxes 28 & 29) give a good overview of shipping during the years of 1905-16. For information pertaining to sugar exports, view oversized book 34 (Sugar Shipment) and Straight Bills of Landing (railroad records for car arrivals). Beet deliveries records are contained in boxes 30-34 and books 24-33. Straight Bills of Landing from 1915-17 also contain information on beet deliveries.
