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Manuscript Group 81
Records, 1919-1950
1 cubic foot
The records of the Princeton-Harvard Highway District were donated to the University of Idaho Library in July 1985 by Melvin Taggart of Potlatch, Idaho. They were processed by Judith Nielsen in December 1989.
The Princeton-Harvard Highway District was organized on April 22, 1919 by commissioners J.D. Morrissey, John Leinhard, and S.M. Starner. Morrissey was elected president, Leinhard secretary, and J.M. Bottjer, not a member of the commission, was elected treasurer. This commission was charged with the construction, improvement, and repair of highways in the district. To raise money for machinery a $110,000 bond was issued in 1919. Several other bonds were issued in later years. Money was also received from motor vehicle licenses and tax levies.
Melvin Taggart obtained these papers in the early 1980s during a dispute with his neighbors over a road leading to his property south of Princeton. The Latah County Highway District and Taggart's neighbors claimed the road was a private road and some of the neighbors put up fences to emphasize the point. But Taggart's research showed the road had been opened by the county in 1905, had never been abandoned, and was therefore still a county road. In August 1985 Second District Judge Ronald Schilling ruled in Taggart's favor.
The records of the Princeton-Harvard Highway District span the years 1919 to 1950, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1919 to 1930.
The records include correspondence, financial records, petitions, election records, minutes of a few meetings, and plat books.
The material in this record group was in no apparent order when received, therefore a series order was imposed during processing.
The correspondence, with the exception of one folder which was segregated by Taggart, was placed in chronological order. Most correspondence is incoming and concerns legal and financial arrangements, including bond issues and plans for road construction. Occasionally there are letters concerning equipment purchases.
Included in the financial records are warrant registers, bank statements, audits, financial statements, monthly payroll time sheets, and inventories of equipment.
Other papers include petitions, election poll and tally books, legal papers such as rights of way consents and contracts, a contract for the Viola to Potlatch section of the North-South highway, minutes of meetings held by the commissioners, and plat books.
Many invoices, paid warrants, and vouchers were included with the records. Samples of these were retained but the bulk was discarded. Likewise only samples of the bond coupons were retained. In all the records were reduced by three cubic feet.
I. Correspondence, 1919-1948 1 II. Financial Records, 1919-1950 1 III. Other Papers, 1919-1947 1
1 1-5 1919-1937; 1948 251 6 Correspondence segregated by Melvin Taggart, 1919-1936 70
7-9 Warrant registers, 1921-1931 19 10 Bank statements, 1919-1924;1936 23 11 Audits, 1928-1930 2 12 County Auditors statements to the Highway District, 1919-1938 56 13-15 Financial statements, 1920-1950 111 16 Bills approved for payment, 1919-1921 20 17 Bonds, 1919-1932 11 18 Potlatch Mercantile invoices, 1922-1920 28 19 Payroll: monthly time sheets, 1920-1921; 1923; 1928 91 20 Payroll: employees' receipt for compensation, 1920-1924 28 21 Payroll: State Insurance Board material, 1919-1936 9 22 Lists of securities on deposit, 1927-1933 5 23 Department of Public Works reports, 1924-1933 7 24 Works Progress Administration reports, 1936 15 25 Samples of checks, vouchers, and warrants, 1919-1933 53 26 Other financial material, 1920-1935 23
27 Petitions, 1921-1931 8 28 Elections: bond election ballots, 1919 240 29 Elections: poll and tally books, notices of elections, oaths of electors, sample ballots, 1929-1947 15 30 Legal papers, 1919-1936 7 31 Minutes of meetings, 1919-1936 7 32 Plat books, n.d. 4 33 Bureau of Highways. Bulletin 2-4; 7, 1919 4 34 List of county and highway district commissioners, 1930-1932 3 35 Other papers, n.d. 3
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