SJW Corp history

Also in 1871, the Tisdale Reservoir, named for local banker William Tisdale opened.

The two companies worked closely together until 1886, at which point Los Gatos Manufacturing became a competitor by purchasing the Los Gatos Water Company.

In 1890, San Jose Water resolved the conflict by acquiring Los Gatos Manufacturing, in the process adding Los Gatos water customers.

Lake Williams Reservoir opened in 1895 under Tisdale's watch.

When Williams returned as president, the company made up for the loss in 1899 by acquiring Mountain Springs Water Company.

Water from this and other streams fed a plentiful artesian belt around San Jose, and starting in 1903 San Jose Water began digging wells to tap into for additional water supplies to meet its growing need.

Due to poor health, Cozzens resigned in 1907, replaced by George McKee, during whose five-year term San Jose Water beefed up its infrastructure, adding nine wells and pumping stations.

The Avon Water Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut Water Service, Inc. that serves the New England region, has been serving customers in the state of Connecticut since 1911.

During his tenure, the company's 50-year charter of incorporation expired in 1916, leading to the creation of San Jose Water Works, which took over all the franchises controlled by San Jose Water.

In 1929, General Water Works and Electric Company bought a controlling interest in San Jose Water for $5.1 million, but management remained unchanged and the company carried on as before.

1937: Ralph Elsman begins a 31-year-tenure as president.

He also became president and general manager of California Water Service Company, a General Water subsidiary that in 1940 moved its offices to the newly enlarged building that housed San Jose Water's headquarters, although it remained independently operated.

1951: Austrian Dam is built.

The Connecticut Water Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Connecticut Water Service, Inc. that serves the New England region, was incorporated under the laws of the State of Connecticut in 1956.

In 1963, he was recruited by San Jose Water to become chief controller.

In 1968, Nathaniel Kendall, the company's chief engineer who had been responsible for the construction of the Austrian Dam, succeed Elsman as president of San Jose Water.

During this period, the company also improved its customer service capabilities by installing an online computer information system in 1977 that replaced manual ledgers and provided customer service representatives with up-to-the-moment billing information on a computer screen.

About one-third of SJW was owned by Roscoe Moss Company, a Los Angeles water drilling company that had been slowly buying up the stock since 1978.

In 1983, the company changes its name from San Jose Water Works to San Jose Water Company.

1985: Holding company JSW Corporation and subsidiary SJW Land Company are formed.

Finally, in 1992, Roscoe Moss and SJW merged, and in the process SJW added the business of Western Precision Inc., a Sunnyvale, California, metal machining company.

Already in 1999, it had completed 16 acquisitions, but gaining approval from the California Public Utilities Commission for the SJW deal proved problematic.

In February 2001, frustrated that the deadline had now been pushed back to September 2001 (almost two years after a tentative agreement had been struck), American Water Works walked away from the deal, fearful that in September the decision would once again be kicked down the road.