Helbush (William W.) Collection of Water Project Records, 1905-1947

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Summary

Title:
William W. Helbush collection of water project records
Dates:
1905-1947
Abstract:
The collection consists of primary and secondary source materials collected by William Helbush in his position as engineer for the San Francisco Department of Public Works. The collection contains project records, including reports, contracts, notes, specifications, plans, blueprints, and site photographs, as well as administrative records, financial records, and reference material related to the design and construction of various water projects, most notably the Hetch Hetchy water supply project, the enlargement of O'Shaughnessy Dam, and the Richmond-Sunset sewage treatment plant and reservoir for the San Francisco Water Department. Many of the records collected by Helbush were created by or for Michael M. O'Shaughnessy, City Engineer for San Francisco and Chief Engineer of the Hetch Hetchy Project; and Ray L. Allin and Paul J. Ost, engineers for the San Francisco Department of Public Works. A small number of Helbush's personal papers can be found in the collection.
Extent:
11.5 Linear Feet (20 manuscript boxes and 3 oversize boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, date], William W. Helbush Collection of Water Project Records (MS 980), California Historical Society Collection at Stanford, Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford Unversity Libraries, Stanford, California.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of primary and secondary source materials collected by William (Bill) Helbush in his position as engineer for the San Francisco Department of Public Works. The collection contains project records, including reports, contracts, notes, specifications, plans, blueprints, and site photographs, as well as administrative records, financial records, and reference material related to the design and construction of various water projects, notably the Hetch Hetchy water supply project, the enlargement of O'Shaughnessy Dam, and the Richmond-Sunset sewage treatment plant and reservoir for the San Francisco Water Department. A small number of Helbush's personal papers can be found in the collection.

The bulk of the collection comprises engineering records and blueprints related to the design, plan, and construction of the Hetch Hetchy water supply system, a massive public works project undertaken by the City of San Francisco. Consisting of a series of dams, tunnels, railroads, and powerhouses, the Hetch Hetchy project (1914-1934) provided the city and its surrounding areas with a longterm water supply. The collection also includes records and blueprints for the enlargement of O'Shaughnessy Dam (1934-1938), a renovation project funded in part by the Public Works Administration that raised O'Shaughnessy Dam by eighty-six feet.

Other records in the collection relate to water and power projects both within the United States and overseas. These include the Bucks Creek power house in Feather River Canyon, California; Moffat Tunnel in Colorado; the Mokelumne River power development for the City of Lodi, California; Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam) on the Colorado River; and Madden Dam in Panama. Reference materials collected by Helbush include engineering manuals, handbooks, catalogs, articles, and bulletins.

Many of the records collected by Helbush were created by or for Michael M. O'Shaughnessy, City Engineer for San Francisco and Chief Engineer of the Hetch Hetchy Project; and Ray L. Allin and Paul J. Ost, engineers for the San Francisco Department of Public Works.

Biographical / historical:

William W. Helbush (circa 1895-1965) served as an engineer for the San Francisco Department of Public Works. During the 1930s he worked on the Hetch Hetchy project (1914-1934) and the enlargement of O'Shaughnessy Dam in Yosemite Valley (1934-1938). Among his known accomplishments was the design of the radial gates of the new spillway at the south abutment of O'Shaughnessy Dam. Helbush collected reference materials, notes, and records for a number of water projects, but the extent of his role in the plan and design of projects represented in the collection is unknown.

The Hetch Hetchy water supply and hydroelectric power system is a gravity driven network of dams, reservoirs, railroads, aqueducts, pipelines, power plants, and tunnels that delivers drinking water from Yosemite National Park to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Hetch Hetchy Valley and the Tuolumne River had been recommended as a water source for the City of San Francisco as early as a 1901, but it was not until the Raker Act of 1913 that the City of San Francisco was granted the right to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley as a reservoir and use public lands to construct projects necessary for the development of a water and power supply system from the Sierras to San Franciso. Started in 1914 and completed in 1934, the Hetch Hetchy project succeeded in providing water to people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, and San Mateo counties. Since then, the Hetch Hetchy water supply system has undergone various upgrades, replacements, additions, and seismic retrofits.

Administration of San Francisco's water supply system has been governed by various corporate and municipal bodies. In 1900 the San Francisco Department of Public Works, called the Board of Public Works, was created and charged with studying possible ways to supply San Francisco with drinking water. In 1930 San Francisco purchased the Spring Valley Water Company, a private enterprise that had been supplying water to San Francisco since 1858. The San Francisco Water Department was then formed under the Board of Public Works. In 1932, the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco created the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC). The SFPUC was responsible for the construction, management, supervision, operation, and control of all public utilities that served the City and County of San Francisco and its inhabitants. Upon its completion in 1934, the Hetch Hetchy project, formerly an independent department under the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, became part of the San Francisco Water Department.

Acquisition information:
Provenance is unknown.
Processing information:

The collection was reprocessed by Frances W. Kaplan in 2012.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into three series: 1) Hetch Hetchy water supply project records; 2) Other water project records; and 3) Research and reference materials.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Frances W. Kaplan
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-02-18 13:39:13 -0800 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged three business days in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: https://library.stanford.edu/libraries/special-collections.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/spc/using-collections/permission-publish. Material in the public domain does not have any restrictions on use.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, date], William W. Helbush Collection of Water Project Records (MS 980), California Historical Society Collection at Stanford, Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford Unversity Libraries, Stanford, California.

Location of this collection:
Department of Special Collections, Green Library
557 Escondido Mall
Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US
Contact:
(650) 725-1022
chscollection@stanford.edu
Website