Description
Herbert Gaytes (1871-1959) was an engineer and amateur photographer whose engineering career in the western United States
focused on projects around water rights and the selection, design, construction, and management of hydro-electric power plants,
electric rail systems, steam power stations, and telephone lines.
Background
Herbert Gaytes (1871-1959) was an engineer and amateur photographer whose engineering career in the western United States
focused on projects around water rights and the selection, design, construction, and management of hydro-electric power plants,
electric rail systems, steam power stations, and telephone lines. In his personal life, Gaytes documented the world around
him in a number of photographs, diaries, scrapbooks, and drawings.
Gaytes was born in Cook, Illinois as the only child of Carol (sometimes written Carroll) Gaytes (1833-1883) and Theresa Herbert
Gaytes (1852-1931). He attended the Chicago Manual Training School from 1896-1888, Beloit Academy in Beloit, Wisconsin from
1888-1889, and Beloit College from 1889-1893 where he received Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees. After traveling
to London in 1894, Gaytes conducted post-graduate work in Electrical Engineering at the Armour Institute of Technology (now
called the Illinois Institute of Technology) where he was also an instructor in Electrical Engineering from 1896-1897.
Around the year 1897, Gaytes moved to Oakland, California where he became an engineer at numerous transit and power companies,
including the Oakland Transit Company, the Boston-South Dakota Gold Mining Company, the Southern Pacific Company, and the
Alaska Engineering Commission. In Oakland, he lived with his mother Theresa until her death in 1931, and the following year,
married Mabel Bradley who he remained with until his death in 1959. Mabel died six years later in 1965.
Much is recorded about the life of Gaytes and his family through his personal diaries and scrapbooks, which document his daily
activities, diet, weather, and health, as well as visits from family and friends, vacations, and current events. Similarly,
his professional notebooks record much of his business transactions, research and reference materials, and projects conducted
during his career as an engineer. Although Oakland remained his permanent home, Gaytes’ work brought him to locations all
over the western United States, such as Alaska, Washington, and Oregon, among other locations.
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