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Records of Bernard J. S. Cahill, ca. 1889-1938
19XX-3
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Title: Bernard J. S. Cahill records
Dates: 1889-1938
Collection number: 19XX-3
Creator:
Cahill, B. J. S. (Bernard J. S.), 1867-1964
Collector:
Environmental Design Archives
Collection Size:
3 manuscript boxes, 5 oversize folders, 1 flat box, 2 artifacts
Repository:
Environmental Design Archives. College of Environmental Design.
University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California
Physical location: Environmental Design Archives
University of California
Berkeley, California, 94720-1820
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Collection is open for research.
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in the collection should be discussed with the
Curator.
[Identification of Item], Records of Bernard J. S. Cahill, 19XX-3, Environmental Design Archives. College of
Environmental Design. University of California, Berkeley. Berkeley, California.
Bernard Joseph Stanislaus Cahill was born in London, England in 1866. He is known for his cemetery architecture and for the
design of the San Francisco Civic Center. He was also the architect for a number of other commercial buildings, including
the Multnomah Hotel in Portland, Oregon and various buildings in Vancouver, B. C.
Cahill arrived in the United States in 1888. He was married to Lida Boardman Hall in 1897, and to Laura Georgiana McClune
in 1907. He and his second wife had one son, Bernard James Alban.
At the start of his professional career in 1896, Cahill participated in the Phoebe Hearst competition for the design of the
U. C. Berkeley campus. He was elected an Associate Member of the A.I.A. in 1899. He wrote articles for the "California Architect
and Building News" and later for "The Architect and Engineer." An early advocate of city planning, Cahill helped to define
the concept of a "civic center" with his 1904 design of the San Francisco Civic Center, which he felt was the basis for the
plan adopted by the city in 1912. He continued to be involved in the plan for the city, and wrote letters to the editor and
articles expressing his ideas on the proper plan.
A specialist in mausoleum design and mortuary architecture, Cahill designed the catacombs and columbarium for the Cypress
Lawn Cemetery, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (San Francisco), Evergreen Memorial Cemetery Memorial Building (Oakland),
the St. Mary's Cemetery mausoleum (Sacramento), and the Diamond Head Memorial Park in Honolulu.
He was listed in the San Francisco city directory under the partnership of Stone and Cahill from 1894-1895, and then starting
in 1907 with architects George A.Wright and George Rushforth (in the firm Wright, Rushforth, and Cahill). He subsequently
designed buildings (such as the Multnomah Hotel in Portland) as part of the team of Gibson and Cahill.
In addition to designing buildings, Cahill invented the butterfly map, an octahedral system of projection for meteorology,
geography, and geophysics. The map was designed to eliminate exaggeration at the top and bottom and distortion at the edges
and sides found in traditional maps. The surface of the globe was represented by eight equilateral triangles. Cahill founded
The Cahill World Map Co., which sold shares and promoted the map for educational and other uses.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Bernard J. S. Cahill collection is organized in five series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, Project
Records, and the Cahill World Map Company.
The bulk of the collection consists of Cahill's office records, which include photographs, clippings and scrapbooks that illustrate
his completed projects. Project records primarily relate to funerary commissions, but letters and clippings about the San
Francisco Civic Center are also included. The collection also contains a small number of records from the Cahill World Map
Company, and personal and professional writings by Cahill.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Mausoleums.
Architects--California.
Architecture--California.
Cahill World Map Co.
Architectural records.
Scrapbooks.
Architectural drawings.
Architectural photographs.
The following is a list of architectural projects from the Records of Bernard J. S. Cahill collection. For instructions on
interpreting the Project Index, see
The Guide to the Project Index at
http://www.ced.berkeley.edu/cedarchives/pindex/guide.htm .
The Project Index list is arranged alphabetically by Project/Client Name and contains information, where available, about
the location, date, project type, collaborators, photographers, and formats for each project in the collection.
Project/Client Name (location, date, project type) Collaborator (role), Photographer [Format - Ms=Manuscripts, Dr=Drawings, Ph=Photographs]
- Brewery Design (Hong Kong; commercial) [Dr]
- Calkins Newspaper Syndicate Building (San Francisco, CA; commercial) [Ph]
- Civic Center "Plan to Beautify Market Street" (San Francisco, CA; 1899-1912; planning) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Coleman Crypt (funerary) [Ph]
- Curtis Crypt (funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Ph]
- Cypress Hill Memorial Park (Petaluma, CA; 1924; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Cypress Lawn (Colma, CA; 1918-1920; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- De la Montanga Mausoleum at Cypress Lawn (San Francisco, CA; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Ph]
- Diamond Head Memorial Park (Honolulu, HI; 1928-1930; funerary) [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- Dohrmann Crypt (funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Ph]
- Evergreen Cemetery (Oakland, CA; 1916-1933; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr, Ph]
- Guittard Company Building (San Francisco, CA; 1909; commercial) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Ms]
- Haller Crypt (funerary) [Ph]
- Halsten & Co. Building (commercial) [Dr]
- Henry, C.K. Marble Skyscraper (Portland, OR; 1910; commercial) Collaborator: Gibson & Cahill [Dr]
- Hewes Crypt (funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Ph]
- IOOF Alisal Lodge Crematory, Office, and Columbarium (Salinas, CA; 1935; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- IOOF Columbarium and Crematorium (San Francisco, CA; 1894; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill & T.P. Ross [Ph]
- IOOF Home (San Jose, CA; recreational) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Kohler & Chase Building (San Francisco, CA; commercial) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Dr]
- Magnavox Company Building (Oakland, CA; ca. 1919; commercial) [Ph]
- McKinley, William Memorial (San Francisco, CA; cultural) Collaborator: Cahill [Ph]
- Meads Poultry Farm (Hayward, CA; commercial) Collaborator: Cahill [Ms, Ph]
- Memorial Terrace Mausoleum (Glendale, CA; funerary) [Ph]
- Multnomah Hotel (Portland, OR; 1911-1912; commercial) Collaborator: Gibson & Cahill [Dr, Ph]
- Native Sons of the Golden West Building Design (1895; recreational) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Norton, B.W. Manufacturing Company (Hayward, CA; 1920; commercial) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Pacific Mausoleum-Columbarium (Oakland, CA; 1933; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Pashmore, Sir Francis Residence (San Francisco, CA; 1936; residential) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- San Francisco City Hall Competition (San Francisco, CA; governmental) Cahill [Dr]
- San Francisco City Hall Temporary Building (San Francisco, CA; governmental) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Dr]
- Santa Cruz Mausoleum (Santa Cruz, CA; 1928; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Ms, Ph]
- Seamen's Institute (San Francisco, CA; recreational) [Ph]
- Skaggs, M.B. Residence (Piedimont, CA; residential) [Ph]
- St. Mary's Mausoleum (Sacramento, CA; ca. 1930; funerary) [Ms, Ph]
- Sunset View Cemetery (Berkeley, CA; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Terbush Hotel at Powell & Clay Streets (San Francisco, CA; 1907; commercial) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Ms, Ph]
- Unidentified Church (religious) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Ph]
- Unidentified Church (religious) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Ph]
- Unidentified Columbarium (Fresno, CA; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Unidentified Library (1909; educational) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Dr]
- University of California Phoebe Hearst Architectural Competition (CA; educational) Collaborator: [Dr]
- Vancouver City Hall (Vancouver, WA; governmental) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Ph]
- West Coast Soap Company Plant (Oakland, CA; 1919; commercial) Collaborator: Cahill [Dr]
- Woodlawn Memorial Park (Colma, CA; 1932; funerary) Collaborator: Cahill [Ms, Dr, Ph]
- Wright, Rushforth & Cahill Office at 571 California St. (San Francisco, CA; commercial) Collaborator: Wright, Rushforth & Cahill [Dr]
Title: Bernard Joseph Stanislaus Cahill Papers, ca. 1900-1944
Contributing Institution: The Bancroft Library