William Hammond Hall (1846–1934) was a civil engineer who was the first State Engineer of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and designed Golden Gate Park in

San Francisco, CA San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Biography

William Hammond Hall was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on February 12, 1846. After serving with the U.S. army engineers in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Hall was assigned in the latter part of the 1860s to surveying the Western regions of the United States and preparing topographical maps. During this same time, the citizens of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

were considering building a grand park for their new and growing city. The city designated a tract of stretching out to the ocean that was known as the "outside land." In 1870 the Park Commission solicited bids for a topographical survey which was awarded to Hall. After the successful completion of that task, he was appointed Golden Gate Park's first superintendent in 1871. Hall devised a plan to improve the Park. The design included a Panhandle along with two main drives. Additionally, the outside land was covered with sand dunes which needed to be reclaimed and replaced by forest trees. 60,000 trees had been planted by 1875 ( Blue Gum Eucalyptus,

Monterey pine ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico ( Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the f ...

and

Monterey cypress ''Hesperocyparis macrocarpa'' is a coniferous tree. It is commonly known as the Monterey cypress and is one of several species of cypress trees endemic to California. The Monterey cypress is found naturally only on the Central Coast of Califor ...

). Plantings continued and there were 155,000 trees planted by 1879. In 1876, Hall was elected a member of the

California Academy of Sciences The California Academy of Sciences is a research institute and natural history museum in San Francisco, California, that is among the largest museums of natural history in the world, housing over 46 million specimens. The Academy began in 1853 ...

, and was appointed California's first State Engineer. Despite his new responsibilities, he retained the position of consulting engineer to Golden Gate Park until he resigned in 1890, and was replaced by his assistant John McLaren. As California's State Engineer, Hall worked on a comprehensive water supply and flood control system for the Sacramento Valley. Hall's study of California's

hydrology Hydrology () is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and management of water on Earth and other planets, including the water cycle, water resources, and environmental watershed sustainability. A practitioner of hydrology is call ...

lasted from 1878 through 1883. In that time, his staff installed an extensive flow gauging system along some of California rivers. He was also instrumental in designing projects to help San Francisco acquire adequate supplies of water from the western watershed of the Tuolumne River. Following the earthquake of 1906, San Francisco was able to secure the rights to the water, and it flooded

Hetch Hetchy Valley Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...

Personal life

Hall married Emma Kate Fitzhugh in 1870 and they had three daughters. He died in San Francisco on October 16, 1934.

List of projects

* Golden Gate Park (Urban park in San Francisco, California) *

Mountain Lake Park Mountain Lake Park is a San Francisco park in the Richmond District neighborhood, located north of the intersection of Lake and Funston. It was designed by engineer William Hammond Hall in the late 19th century, circa 1875. Hall also designed G ...

(Urban park in San Francisco, California) * Gardens of 86 Sea View, Piedmont CA

References

External links

Guide to the William Hammond Hall Papers
at

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, William Hammond 1845 births 1934 deaths American civil engineers History of the San Francisco Bay Area