William Thomas Lambie (1837–1900) was a civil engineer who worked on construction projects throughout the American Southwest in the 19th century and was a member of the Los Angeles, California, Common Council, the governing body of that city. He was killed in the collapse of a tunnel on January 21, 1900.

Personal

Lambie was born November 9, 1837, in

Williamsport, Maryland Williamsport is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,868 at the 2000 census and 2,137 as of 2010. Geography Williamsport is located at (39.598496, −77.818464). According to the United States Census Bu ...

, the son of John Lambie of Golston, Ayreshire, Scotland, and Eliza Ann Krebs of Maryland.Los Angeles Public Library reference file, with sources as noted there
/ref> He was married on June 3, 1872, in Washington, D.C., to Leonora Wingard Entler of

Shepherdstown, West Virginia Shepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States, located in the lower Shenandoah Valley along the Potomac River. Home to Shepherd University, the town's population was 1,734 at the time of ...

, and they had three children, Grace Virginia, Nellie Entler (Mrs. William F. Goble) and Hugh Krebs.

Tunnel collapse

Lambie, who was working for the city engineer as an inspector at the time, was among twelve men who were buried or trapped when the west end of the Second Street Tunnel collapsed shortly after 11 a.m. on January 21, 1900, as it was being dug beneath Bunker Hill. He was pinned down under a mass of earth and broken timbers, but workers scraped the earth from his face so he could breathe. Workers could not remove the wooden beams, so they dug beneath him. For a time he was in danger of drowning in water from broken pipes. He was removed from the tunnel at 8 p.m. and taken to

Good Samaritan Hospital Good Samaritan Hospital or Good Samaritan Medical Center may refer to: India *Good Samaritan Hospital (Panamattom), Koprakalam, Panamattom, Kerala *Good Samaritan Centre, Mutholath Nagar, Cherpunkal, Kottyam, Kerala United States *Banner - Univer ...

, where he died a half-hour later. Funeral services were conducted on January 24 by P.F. Bresee and J.R. Compton. Pallbearers came from the Masonic order and the Confederate Veterans.

Vocation

Lambie enlisted in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

on April 20, 1861, in

Covington, Virginia Covington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,737, making it the second-least populous city in Virginia. It is surrounded by Alleghany County, of which it is also the county seat. ...

, and served in the First Virginia Brigade. While still a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

, he took part in the Gettysburg Campaign between June 3 and August 1, 1863. He rose to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He came to California in 1869 and worked as a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

for the Central Pacific and

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

railroads. In 1871 he was sent to do surveying for a proposed line from

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

to the north fork of the

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

, the "idea being that a tunnel constructed on such a line and low enough to tap the lake could be built at the joint expense of the Central Pacific railroad company and the City of San Francisco to make that lake available as a supply for water." The endeavor was abandoned after "several weeks of hard work" and "a heavy rain that turned to snow." He was in charge of the construction of the

Newhall Tunnel Newhall Pass is a low mountain pass in Los Angeles County, California. Historically called Fremont Pass and San Fernando Pass, with Beale's Cut, it separates the Santa Susana Mountains from the San Gabriel Mountains. Although the pass was visite ...

in 1876, after which he moved to Los Angeles and worked on projects in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

as far east as

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

Public service

Lambie, a Democrat, was elected to represent the 1st

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

on the

Los Angeles Common Council The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and ...

on December 4, 1883, for a one-year term and was re-elected the next year. He was city

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

and city engineer for a year beginning December 5, 1887.

Legacy

Lambie Street, just south of

Lincoln Park (Los Angeles) Lincoln Park in Los Angeles, California, was originally created by the City of Los Angeles in 1881 from land donated by John Strother Griffin. It was one of Los Angeles's first parks. It was originally called East Los Angeles Park, then Eastlake ...

and

Valley Boulevard Valley Boulevard is a street in Southern California, running east from Los Angeles to Pomona, where it becomes Holt Boulevard, and a continuation from Fontana to Colton. It generally parallels Interstate 10 (I-10) and State Route 6 ...

Boyle Heights Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

, was named for him.
Location of Lambie Street on ''Mapping L.A.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambie, William Thomas American civil engineers Los Angeles Common Council (1850–1889) members 19th-century American politicians 1837 births 1900 deaths People of Virginia in the American Civil War People from Williamsport, Maryland California Democrats Accidental deaths in California American people of Scottish descent Engineers from California