The Kimball Elevator Company collection dates from 1871 to 1934 and is comprised of business letters and forms. These are incoming orders and forms -- very little outgoing mail from the company is represented in the collection. These are arranged chronologically. The collection contains some materials whose relationship to the Kimball business is not readily apparent, though for reasons of provenance they have been left with the collection. Some of these materials do have a common thread, and they have been removed from the main body of the collection. Besides a small file of miscellaneous items, there are receipts for J. C. Young of Taylorville, California; C. E. Young, also of Taylorville, California; H. W. Stephens of Windy, West Virginia; and I.C.C. Whitmore of Eureka, Nevada. These three appear to have been dry goods merchants and these records are apparently orders to their suppliers. Also represented are records of two banks, both in Carson City, Nevada -- the Bullion and Exchange Bank and the State Bank and Trust. The local Iowa connection as well as the company's involvement with interests across the country make this collection interesting to business historians. Many small companies in Iowa ordered freight elevators from Kimball, and a microcosm of the sorts of businesses operating in Iowa around the turn of the nineteenth century can be gained from looking at incoming orders. In addition, the country's westward development can be deduced by the orders placed from western states, which represent the preponderance of orders after Iowa. Washington and Oregon are heavily represented in this collection. As well, there are a few orders from Canada and Mexico. This collection is also of interest from a graphic design standpoint, showing turn-of-the-century letterhead and stationery designs of the businesses ordering elevators from Kimball, as well as blueprints from that era.