About the Samuel Knight Chapter
The Samuel Knight Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology was founded in March, 1997. It is the first SIA chapter in the Western United States. It is named after Samuel Knight, engineer and inventor in the California Gold Rush era, and founder of Knight & Co. in 1873, a still operating foundry and machine shop in Sutter Creek, CA.
One of the original purposes of the Chapter was to help preserve the Knight Foundry. The Chapter provided a vehicle to bring together a large constituency with a common goal, saving this unique Industrial Archeology treasure. In 2001 the Chapter completed spinning off a new organization, the Knight Foundry Corporation, which is focused on the preservation effort.
The Chapter is a California Public Benefit Corporation. It is governed by the Chapter Bylaws, which are available from the Chapter Secretary. The Chapter officers and Board of Directors members meet yearly. Anyone with business for the Board Meeting should contact one of the Officers or Board Members. Minutes are available from the Chapter Secretary on request. At present, the Chapter has decided not to seek IRS tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) due to the record keeping burden, and the lack of a strong necessity for this status.
The Chapter sponsors a number of activities such as:
- visits to historic and contemporary industrial sites
- lectures on industrial heritage topics, including dinner meetings
- industrial archeology, informal documentation and research on industrial sites
- publication of the Chapter newsletter and this web site
We are always looking for suggestions on activities and sites, the new Forum for the site makes it easy to post your suggestions and share them with our community.
In February, 2007 the Board of the SIA approved the Chapter's proposal to host the 2008 National Conference. This is a challenge for the Chapter, and will be an exciting opportunity for us.
The Chapter web site has been hosted in the past by SIA Headquarters, whose support is appreciated.