Guide to the William Hammond Hall Papers MS 913
Finding aid prepared by California Historical Society staff.
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
2001, revised 2009
© 2008 California Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: William Hammond Hall papers
Dates: 1878-1914
Collection Number: MS 913
Creator:
Hall, Wm. Ham. (William
Hammond)
Physical Description:
2.5 Linear feet
Repository:
California Historical Society
678 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA, 94105
415-357-1848
reference@calhist.org
URL: http://www.californiahistoricalsociety.org/
Physical Location: Collection is stored onsite.
Language of Materials: Collection materials are in English.
Abstract: Chiefly correspondence, reports, accounts, and
other papers pertaining to Hall's irrigation projects in Calif., with some materials
on projects in Nev. and Yakima, Wash. Includes some papers related to Hall's
research and publications on irrigation, dams, and reservoirs; reports and
correspondence on irrigation from the Calif. State Engineering Department; and
correspondence and directories from the Association of Irrigation Districts. Also
includes assorted publications on irrigation in the West outside of Calif., public
lands, and water use.
Information for Researchers
Access
Publication Rights
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.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], William Hammond Hall Papers, MS 913. California
Historical Society.
Related Collections
Title: William Hammond Hall Letterbooks.
Identifier/Call Number: MS 914
Title: William Hammond Hall Papers, 1873-1911.
Identifier/Call Number: MS 915
Title: California Historical Society Photography Collection--General
Subjects--Agriculture--Irrigation
Identifier/Call Number: GS:Box 003
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
library's online public access catalog.
Irrigation engineers--California.
Irrigation engineering--California.
Irrigation engineering--West (U.S.)
California--Officials and employees.
California--Environmental conditions.
California. State Engineering
Dept.
Administrative Information
Accruals
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by California Historical Society staff.
Biography
William Hammond Hall was born on February 12, 1846, the son of John Buchanan Hall and
Anna Marie Hammond. At the time of his birth the family lived in Hagerstown, MD but
moved to Stockton in 1853. Between 1858 and 1865 Hall was enrolled in a private
episcopal academy. It had been planned that Hall would attend West Point so his
education was directed toward mathematics, however, as a result of the Civil War,
Hall's mother would not allow her son to fight against `her people' so he never
received a college education.
His practical education began the summer of 1863 when he worked as a rodman and
leveler for surveyor A.J. Bender. The folowing summer Hall did barometrical work
under a Col. Williamson on Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams in Oregon. Following completion of
his schooling in 1865, he was permanently employed by the Board of Military
Engineers in San Francisco. A year later he was appointed Asst. Civil Enginer of the
U.S. Engineering Corps. In addition to his work for the Army and the U.S.
Engineering Corps, Hall worked on the Outside Lands Survey under City Surveyor W.P.
Humphreys and in 1869 Hall was involved in mining engineering in the White Pine
District, Nevada.
1870 was an important year in Hall's life. He was married to Emma Fitzhugh, member of
a prominent Southern family. And in August of that year, Hall, as low bidder, was
awarded the contract to survey and topographically map out Golden Gate Park.
Following that report, he prepared a plan for the Park's development and the
following August was appointed engineer and superintendent of the Park. A position
Hall held until his resignation in 1876.
During 1872-73, Hall consulted in the grading and development of the University of
California campus at Berkeley. In the few years after his resignation Hall was
involved in a variety of projects which included: inspection work and reports on the
construction of Wm. Ralston's Palace Hotel;and serving as chief engineer for the
Central Irrigation District and the West side Irrigation District.
In the Spring of 1879 Governor William Irwin appointed Hall as the first state
engineer of California. He was reappointed to this position by four successive
governors. In this capacity he was asked by Gov. Stoneman to act as consulting
engineer for Golden Gate Park in 1886. 1886 was also the year in which Hall launched
his journal
Land and Water with editorial
assistance from his Assistant State Engineer James D. Schuyler. Hall resigned as
State Engineer in 1889 and was appointed supervising engineer of the U.S.G.S.
Irrigation Bureau a position he held for a year.
Hall went into private practice in 1890 and worked as a civil engineer on irrigation
projects in central and southern California and as consulting engineer on irrigation
and waterworks in England and South Africa. In 1889 Hall went to Russia, in 1905 to
Panama to report on engineering studies on the Panama Canal and in 1918 to Turkey
where he reported on Armenian and Syrian Relief. During these years Hall was in
business as a civil engineer and land developer. During the early part of the
twentieth century Hall was involved in a controversy concerning land in Yosemite
(now known as Hetch-Hetchy) which the City of San Francisco was seeking for a water
supply.
Hall had three daughters, Anna Hammond, Margaret Fitzhugh, and Katherine Buchanan
Hall. He died on October 16, 1934 and was buried in Colma.
Source: Clary, Raymond.
The
History of Golden Gate Park.
Scope and Contents of Collection
Consists of records from William Hammond Hall's professional practice as an engineer
and especially as a water resources specialist. The material in this collection
relates specifically to Irrigation in California, Nevada and Yakima, Washington.
Folders 1-8 contain more general materials such as correspondence; outlines and notes
from Hall's research and toward articles and reports he was intending to write;
copies of his published works and reports on reservoirs, two by his assistant James
D. Schuyler.
Folders 9-16 relate to the California State Office of Engineering and include reports
and correspondence. There are some materials relating to a controversy in that
office that took place in 1890. There is also material from the Association of
Irrigation Districts.
The remainder of the collection are records relating to specific water engineering
projects throughout California. Included are reports, correspondence,
specifications, financial records such as cost estimates and accounts, arid land
legislation and newspaper clippings. Projects included in this material include the
California Central Irrigation District, irrigation in Southern California, a major
endeavor in Yakima, Washington, and various flood control and canal projects
throughout the state. There are also records from a project in Nevada.
Box 5 contains an assortment of published sources such as Sierra Buttes Canal &
Water Co. briefs, issues of the Census Bulletin from 1892, and other published
material relating non-California irrigation, public lands and water use.
Index
Arid regions
(f. 47)
Association of Irrigation Districts
(f. 15, 16)
Bear Valley Dam (San Bernadino Co.)
(f. 17)
Bosley, William B.
Brown, Walston H. & Bros.
(f. 32)
California. State Department of Engineering
(f. 9-14)
Central Irrigation District
(f. 18-20)
Clear Lake (Lake Co.)
(f. 21)
Contra Costa & Oakland Water Co.
(f. 22)
Coyote River Water Project (Santa Clara Co.)
(f. 23)
Crocker & Huffman Canal (Merced Co.)
(f. 24)
Dixon, L.L.
(f. 25)
Granger, Walter N.
(f. 36)
James, Walter
(f.25)
Kern County--Irrigation
(f. 25-28)
Kern River
(f. 26-28)
Los Angeles
(f. 15, 34,35)
Nance, J.W.
(f. 15)
Nevada Irrigation Project
(f. 29)
Newlands, Francis G.
(f. 29)
Northern Pacific, Yakima and Kittitas Irrigation Co.
(f. 36-44)
Nurse, M. A.
(f. 30)
Pardee, Geroge C.
(f. 10)
Perris Irrigation Project
(f. 15, 17)
Riverside Co.
(f. 15, 17)
Salt Spring Valley Reservoir (Calavaras Co.)
(f. 32)
San Bernadino Co.
(f. 34, 35)
Schuyler, James D.
(f. 6,7)
San Diego Co.
(f. 15, 34, 35)
Sierra Buttes Canal & Water Co.
(f.50)
Sterling, Guy
(f. 41, 42)
Washington (State)
(f. 36-44)
Yakima Valley Project (WA)
(f. 36-44)
Zillah Headquarters Building
(f. 36-42)
Mixed materials 1, Folder 1
General correspondence
1883-1910
Mixed materials 1, Folder 2
Irrigation; Its Province and Problems, outline and notes
1889
Mixed materials 1, Folder 3
Dams for Storage Reservoirs, manuscript
undated
Mixed materials 1, Folder 4
Notes and miscellaneous documents
undated
Mixed materials 1, Folder 5
Published Works
1891,
1897
Mixed materials 1, Folder 6
Reservoir of San Bernadino and L.A. Counties, by J.D.
Schuyler
1880-1881
Mixed materials 1, Folder 7
Report on Mountain Reservoirs on the Kern River, by J.D.
Schuyler
1888
Mixed materials 1, Folder 8
Specht's Report on Reservoirs and Dams for Storage
Purposes
undated
California State Engineering Department
Mixed materials 1, Folder 9
Mixed materials 1, Folder 10
Drainage and debris work - correspondence
undated
Mixed materials 1, Folder 11-12
Irrigation District Report - correspondence
1888
Mixed materials 1, Folder 13
Report on Irrigation
1880-1888
Mixed materials 2, Folder 14
Association of Irrigation Districts
Mixed materials 2, Folder 15
Mixed materials 2, Folder 16
Mixed materials 2, Folder 17
Bear Valley Dam and Perris Irrigation Project
1889
Central Irrigation District
Mixed materials 2, Folder 18
Mixed materials 2, Folder 19
Mixed materials 2, Folder 20
Mixed materials 2, Folder 21
Clear Lake Survey
undated
Mixed materials 2, Folder 22
Contra Costa and Oakland Water Co.
1886-1894
Mixed materials 2, Folder 23
Coyote River Water Project
1901-1902
Mixed materials 2, Folder 24
The Crocker and Huffman Canal
undated
Mixed materials 3, Folder 25
Kern County Irrigation Project
1878-1885
Mixed materials 3, Folder 26
Mixed materials 3, Folder 27
Mixed materials 3, Folder 28
Mixed materials 3, Folder 29
Nevada Irrigation Project
1889-1890
Mixed materials 3, Folder 30
Sacramento River Flood Control - correspondence
1903-1904
Mixed materials 3, Folder 31
Sacramento Valley Irrigation Project
1883
Mixed materials 3, Folder 32
Salt Spring Valley Reservoir
1889
Mixed materials 3, Folder 33
San Joaquin Valley Canal - statistics
1885
Mixed materials 4, Folder 34
Irrigation in Southern California
circa 1888
Mixed materials 4, Folder 35
Irrigation Projects in Southern California (Los Angeles, San
Diego, San Bernadino)
undated
Yakima Valley (Washington) Irrigation Project
Mixed materials 4, Folder 36
Mixed materials 4, Folder 37
Mixed materials 4, Folder 38
Mixed materials 4, Folder 39
Mixed materials 4, Folder 40
Mixed materials 4, Folder 41-42
Mixed materials 4, Folder 43
Mixed materials 5, Folder 44
Mixed materials 5, Folder 45
Yolo County Sub-Irrigation
undated
Mixed materials 5, Folder 46
Yosemite Valley Project
1902
Mixed materials 5, Folder 47
Arid Lands Legislation
1889-1890
Mixed materials 5, Folder 48
Newspaper clippings
1888-1890
Mixed materials 5, Folder 49
Sierra Buttes Canal & Water Co. - Briefs
Mixed materials 5, Folder 50
California Highway Bulletin, Census Bulletin
1892,
1916
