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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.
Collection is open for research.
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.