Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Hall, Wm. Ham. (William Hammond)
- Abstract:
- The William Hammond Hall Papers, consist of correspondence, writings, diaries, maps, photographs, notes, and clippings recording the fifty year career of a pioneer in the fields of irrigation, reclamation, and conservation.
- Extent:
- 28 linear feet (17 boxes, 15 cartons, 12 volumes, 2 oversize folders)
- Language:
- English and Collection materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Wm. Ham. Hall Papers, BANC MSS 86/152 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The William Hammond Hall Papers, 1803-1979, consist of correspondence, writings, diaries, maps, photographs, notes, and clippings recording the fifty year career of a pioneer in the fields of irrigation, reclamation, and conservation.
The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence and papers created and compiled by Hall during his career as a civil engineer. The collection also includes correspondence and papers of his wife, Emma Kate Fitzhugh Hall, their three daughters, Anna Hammond Hall, Margaret Fitzhugh Hall, and Katharine Buchanan Hall, and various members of the Hall, Hammond, Buchanan, Fitzhugh, and related families.
The William Hammond Hall papers remained in the family until the death of Hall's youngest daughter in 1972. They were inherited by a cousin and, following his death, were offered for sale by his inheritors.
- Biographical / historical:
-
William Hammond Hall was born in Hagerstown, Maryland on February 12, 1846, the son of Anna Maria Hammond and John Buchanan Hall. The family came to California in 1850 and his father established a law practice that flourished until his office and library were destroyed in the fire of 1851. Later that year the family settled in Stockton where John Hall reestablished his law practice and became legal advisor to Charles M. Weber, the city's founder. Hall's education in a private academy was designed to prepare him for West Point but the outbreak of the Civil War caused his parents to abandon this plan. He remained in the Stockton academy until 1865 when he began his professional career in civil engineering as a draftsman and surveyor for the United States Corps of Engineers. He quickly advanced to assistant engineer and, as chief engineer, conducted the first survey for a ship canal to bring deep-sea vessels to the port of Stockton.
Early in 1870, Hall was appointed by the first San Francisco Board of Park Commissioners to conduct a topographic survey of the Golden Gate Park site. His plan for the development of the Park was adopted by the Commission and he became engineer and superintendent of construction. In the next six years most of the roads were built, trees and bushes were planted, picnic grounds and a children's play area were laid out, and various rustic buildings were constructed. Hall resigned in 1876 but served for many years without compensation as consulting engineer to the Park Commission. In that capacity he designed and built numerous buildings and other improvements, and selected and trained John McLaren to be the new superintendent.
From 1876 to 1878, Hall was chief engineer for several major irrigation projects, including the West Side Irrigation Commission, at that time one of the largest single irrigation studies in the state. In 1878, he was appointed the first State Engineer of California by Governor William Irwin and served under four successive governors until the office was abolished by the state legislature. During this period he worked with many prominent engineers, including Barton S. Alexander, George H. Mendell, and James B. Eads. In addition, he hired and trained numerous young engineers, including three who later achieved prominence: Carl Ewald Grunsky, Marsden Manson, and James Dix Schuyler. In 1889, he was appointed supervising engineer for the United States Irrigation Survey, the predecessor of the U.S. Reclamation Service, to oversee all of their investigative work west of the Rocky Mountains.
While working in London in 1896, Hall accepted an offer to supervise construction of a water storage system for the Johannesburg mining region in South Africa. He was also in charge of several other projects in the area until the work was stopped because of the Boer War. Before returning to the United States, Hall went to Russia to survey and report on irrigation projects in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia. Back in California, he made a study of the proposed Panama Canal which convinced Senator George C. Perkins to advocate the lock system instead of a sea level canal. Hall continued with numerous hydroelectric and irrigation surveys and, in 1908, acquired properties in the Lake Eleanor and Cherry Creek water sheds which he sold to the city of San Francisco for their water supply.
Hall remained active as consultant and self-appointed guardian of Golden Gate Park until several years before his death in 1934.
- Acquisition information:
- The William Hammond Hall Papers were purchased by The Bancroft Library from James D. Santee on July 1, 1985.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Mary Ellen Jones in 1990; revised by Mary Morganti in 2004.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged to the folder level.
- Accruals:
-
No additions are expected.
- Physical location:
- Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Wm. Ham. Hall Papers, BANC MSS 86/152 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481