William Hammond Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Hammond Hall
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| Born | February 12, 1846 Hagerstown, Maryland
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| Died | October 16, 1934 (aged 88) San Francisco, California
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| Occupation | Civil engineer |
William Hammond Hall (1846–1934) was a talented civil engineer. He was the very first State Engineer for California. He is most famous for designing the beautiful Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
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William Hall's Early Life
William Hammond Hall was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, on February 12, 1846. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Civil War, Hall worked on mapping the western parts of the United States. He created special maps that showed the shape of the land, including hills and valleys.
Designing Golden Gate Park
In the late 1860s, people in San Francisco wanted to build a large park. The city chose a big area of land, about 1,013 acres, that stretched all the way to the ocean. This area was known as the "outside land."
In 1870, the city asked for plans to map this land. William Hall won the job. After he successfully finished the maps, he was chosen to be the first superintendent of Golden Gate Park in 1871.
Hall created a plan to make the park amazing. His design included a long, narrow section called the Panhandle. It also had two main roads. The "outside land" was mostly covered in sand dunes. Hall's plan was to turn these sandy areas into forests. By 1875, about 60,000 trees were planted. These included Blue Gum Eucalyptus, Monterey pine, and Monterey cypress. Even more trees were planted, reaching 155,000 by 1879.
California's First State Engineer
In 1876, William Hall became a member of the California Academy of Sciences. He was also chosen to be California's first State Engineer. This was a very important job! Even with his new duties, he kept helping with Golden Gate Park as a consulting engineer until 1890. His assistant, John McLaren, then took over.
As California's State Engineer, Hall worked on big plans for water. He wanted to create a system to supply water and control floods in the Sacramento Valley. From 1878 to 1883, he studied how water moved through California. His team set up a system to measure how much water was flowing in many California rivers.
He also helped design projects to get enough water for San Francisco from the Tuolumne River. After a big earthquake in 1906, San Francisco was able to get the rights to this water. This led to the creation of a reservoir by flooding Hetch Hetchy Valley.
Family Life
William Hall married Emma Kate Fitzhugh in 1870. They had three daughters together. He passed away in San Francisco on October 16, 1934.
What Did He Build?
Here are some of the projects William Hammond Hall worked on:
- Golden Gate Park (A large urban park in San Francisco, California)
- Mountain Lake Park (An urban park also in San Francisco, California)
- Gardens of 86 Sea View, Piedmont CA
