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Guide to the William Hammond Hall Papers, 1873-1911
Collection number: MS 915
MS 915
MS 915
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Title: William Hammond Hall papers
Date (inclusive): 1873-1911
Collection Number: MS 915
Creator:
Hall, Wm. Ham. (William Hammond)
Physical Description:
9 boxes, including 13 volumes, 13 oversize folders (3.5
linear feet)
Contributing Institution:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Abstract: The William Hammond Hall papers (MS915) consists
of correspondence, technical reports, scrapbooks, and blueprints generated during
his time as the first State Engineer of California (1879-1889), as a supervising
engineer for the U.S. Geological Survey (1889), and as a private civil engineer
designing dams and irrigation projects in California, Utah, Washington and southern
Africa. Correspondence includes letters written to California Governors William
Irwin and George clement Perkins in his capacity as State Engineer, and extensive
correspondence with Frederick Law Olmstead & Co. regarding the Allesandro
(California) town improvement project. Reports include U.S. Geological Survey
materials from the California and Lahontan divisions, as well as reports relating to
the construction of the Santa Ana Canal, the Northern Pacific, Yakima, and Kittitas
Irrigation Co., dams on the Sacramento, Yuba, American, and Feather Rivers, and
irrigation projects in the California Central Valley. Additionally, there are
reports and miscellaneous notes on subjects such as artesian wells, stream gauging,
sewage, and other hydrology topics. Blueprints in the collection date from Hall's
time as a private engineer, and include plans relating to the Santa Ana Canal
project (California), Central Irrigation District projects (California), the
Northern Pacific, Yakima, and Kittitas Irrigation Co. (Washington), and
miscellaneous plans and maps from projects built in southern Africa. The scrapbooks
contain newspaper clippings pertaining to Hall's professional interests, including 3
volumes relating to irrigation and the cultivation of crops, 2 volumes relating to
river and flood control, and clippings relating to Supreme Court decisions
concerning irrigation and water rights.
CHS is not taking appointments for research at this time. Please check the Library's website updates:
https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/collections/north-baker-research-library/
Copyright has not been assigned to the California Historical Society. All
requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted
in writing to the Director of Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the California Historical Society as the owner of the
physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
[Identification of item], William Hammond Hall Papers, MS 915. California
Historical Society.
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collection Number
NUCMC 82-389
Title: William Hammond Hall Papers, 1878-1914.
Identifier/Call Number: MS 913
Title: William Hammond Hall Letterbooks.
Identifier/Call Number: MS 914
Title: California Historical Society Photography Collection--General
Subjects--Agriculture--Irrigation
Identifier/Call Number: GS:Box 003
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California. Office of State Engineer. Records
and Correspondence.
Geological Survey (U.S.). Water
Resources Division. California District.
Blueprints
California--Environmental
conditions.
California--Officials and
employees.
Engineers--California.
Letter books.
Reports
Scrapbooks.
Water-supply engineering--California
Allesandro Park Plan
Box 1, folder 2A
Bancroft, A.L.
Box 1, folder 2
Bear Valley Irrigation Project
Box 1, folder 3
California State Prison (San Quentin)
Box 1, folder 2
California State Prison (San Quentin)
Box 1, folder 1
Crocker, Charles T.
Box 1, folder 3
Grant Brothers
Box 1, folder 3
Haggin, J.B.
Box 1, folder 1
Hanks, Henry G.
Box 1, folder 2
Frederick Law Olmstead & Co.
Box 1, folder 2A
Johnson, James A.
Box 1, folder 1
Miller & Lux
Box 1, folder 1
Raymond, William
Box 1, folder 2
Riverside County
Box 1, folder 2
Rudisill, H.J.
Box 1, folder 2
Ryer, Dr. W.M.
Box 1, folder 1
Schuyler, James D.
Box 1, folder 2
Shorb, J. de Barth
Box 1, folder 2
Southern Pacific Railroad
Box 1, folder 1
Topp, T.U.
Box 1, folder 1
Tucker, G.H.
Box 1, folder 1
Wharton, J.F.
Box 1, folder 1
Papers comprising collection MS915 were acquired by donation from Katherine
Buchanan Hall, daughter of William Hammond Hall in 1951.
No additions are expected.
Processed with the assistance of Dr. Otto H. Pflueger, 1971.
Biography of William Hammond Hall
William Hammond Hall was a California engineer who served as Superintendent and
Engineer of Golden Gate Park (1871-1876), a consultant in the grading and
development of the University of California campus at Berkeley (1872-1873), chief
engineer for the Central and West Side Irrigation Districts (1870s), the first State
Engineer of California (1879-1889), and Supervising Engineer of the Irrigation
Bureau at the United States Geological Survey (1889). Beginning in 1890, he worked
in the private sector as a civil engineer.
Compiled in the office of State Engineer (California), 1878-1888, and Division
Engineer, U.S. Geological Survey. Includes survey reports of California rivers and
the land surrounding them, blueprints of projects from private civil engineering
practice, and correspondence.
The William Hammond Hall papers are arranged in four series: Series I -
Correspondence, Series II - Reports, Series III - Scrapbooks of Newspaper Clippings,
Series IV - Blueprints.
Series I - Correspondence is organized chronologically, by format, and in two cases
by correspondent: 4 volumes of letterbooks (including one dedicated to communication
with California Governors), and 4 folders of unbound correspondence, including 1
folder consisting of correspondence with Frederick Law Olmstead & Co.
Series II - Reports is organized chronologically, with one subseries consisting of
reports authored for the U.S. Geological Survey.
Series III - Scrapbooks of Newspaper Clippings is organized first by subject, then
chronologically.
Series IV - Blueprints is arranged by project and ordered according to an internal
numbering system (K numbers). Unnumbered blueprints appear at the beginning of the
series, with the remainder organized sequentially and grouped by project.