Michael O'Shaughnessy
Encyclopedia
Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy (May 28, 1864 – October 12, 1934) was an Irish
Civil engineer
who became city engineer for the city of San Francisco during the first part of the twentieth century and developed the Hetch-Hetchy water system.
, Ireland
.
His father Patrick O'Shaughnessy and mother Margaret O'Donnell were farmers. O'Shaughnessy attended school in Limerick and County Tipperary
and studied at University College in Cork and University College, Galway, graduating from the Royal University of Ireland
in 1884 in Engineering.
On October 21, 1890 he married Mary Spottiswood and had five children.
then traveling to San Francisco overland by train, arriving on March 30, 1885. He first worked as an assistant engineer for the Sierra Valley and Mohawk Railroad. In 1886 he found employment with the Southern Pacific Railroad
as a surveyor
and worked on layout for the towns of Mill Valley and Sausalito, California
. In 1889 he opened an engineering office in the city of San Francisco. He was appointed chief engineer for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
in Golden Gate Park
in 1890. Later, in 1895, he was awarded a commission by the Mountain Copper Company to design a narrow-gauge railroad, and he began working for the Spring Valley Water Company, a private concern that controlled streams and springs on the San Francisco peninsula, later purchased by the city to become the San Francisco Water Department
.
O'Shaughnessy oversaw construction of several major water supply projects in the Hawaiian Islands
beginning in 1889. These included aqueducts at Olokele, Koolau, Keanaiemaui, and Kohala
for sugar plantations
. Upon return to California in 1906 he worked on the Morena Dam project outside San Diego and the Merced River
Dam for the Crocker Land and Development Company. He also designed and supervised the construction of a water supply system for he city of Port Costa.
San Francisco Mayor James Rolph
chose him as chief engineer for the city in September, 1912, convincing him to accept a salary less than half that of his private practice. O'Shaughnessy was uncertain that he wanted the job because in the past, the city had not always paid him for work done. His wife, a native of San Francisco, convinced him to accept. O'Shaughnessy issued dozens of reports during his years in office, nearly all descriptions of engineering projects intended to educate city's officials and the population. He once complained that he had to run "an engineering school, where, as fast as he could teach the Supervisors what it was all about, the public turned them out and sent him new pupils." In this position O'Shaughnessy supervised the construction of the Twin Peaks Reservoir, the Stockton Street Tunnel, the Twin Peaks Tunnel, the Municipal Railway System and service to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)
along with streets, a high-pressure fire system and new sewers. San Francisco's streetcar system, of which the J, K, L, M, and N lines survive today, was pushed to completion by O'Shaughnessy between 1915 and 1927, but city voters defeated the bond issue he backed in 1927.
O'Shaughnessy's largest and most controversial project was the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
and power project (O'Shaughnessy Dam
). While San Francisco rebuilt after the Earthquake and Fire of 1906 its current water supply was inadequate to meet future growth. Hetch Hetchy began with a dam in the Yosemite and was linked to more than 150 miles (241.4 km) of tunnels, pumping stations and pipelines to San Francisco. The project involved building not just a dam, but also a 68 miles (109.4 km)-long railroad, several smaller dams, an aqueduct 156 miles (251.1 km) long that included 85 miles (136.8 km) of tunnels, some through solid granite, hydroelectric generating plants and transmission lines.
That the dam was planned for a valley in Yosemite National Park caused significant opposition. One of the most potent opponents was the Sierra Club
and its founding President, John Muir
. After two vetoes by Teddy Roosevelt, on December 19, 1913, Woodrow Wilson
signed the Raker Act
. Construction began in 1914. Water from by the dam, named for O'Shaughnessy, crosses the foothills, the San Joaquin Valley, the coast ranges and San Francisco Bay through the Pulgas Water Temple
and is stored in the Crystal Springs Reservoir
.
O'Shaughnessy lost control of the project in 1932 when the California Public Utilities Commission
was formed. Edward Cahill was appointed to head the new commission and O'Shaughnessy's deputy, Lloyd McAfee, was appointed manager and Chief Engineer for the Hetch Hetchy project. O'Shaughnessy died of a heart attack on October 12, 1934, sixteen days before Yosemite's water was delivered to San Francisco's reservoirs. O'Shaughnessy Boulevard in San Francisco is named for him.
as Saul Silver's second favorite civil engineer. Silver also claimed that O'Shaughnessy invented the "cross joint" for smoking marijuana.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
Civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
who became city engineer for the city of San Francisco during the first part of the twentieth century and developed the Hetch-Hetchy water system.
Life
Michael O'Shaughnessy was born May 28, 1864 in County LimerickCounty Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
.
His father Patrick O'Shaughnessy and mother Margaret O'Donnell were farmers. O'Shaughnessy attended school in Limerick and County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...
and studied at University College in Cork and University College, Galway, graduating from the Royal University of Ireland
Royal University of Ireland
The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the University Education Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on April 27, 1880 and examinations were opened to candidates irrespective of...
in 1884 in Engineering.
On October 21, 1890 he married Mary Spottiswood and had five children.
Career
He emigrated to U.S. in 1885, sailing from LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
then traveling to San Francisco overland by train, arriving on March 30, 1885. He first worked as an assistant engineer for the Sierra Valley and Mohawk Railroad. In 1886 he found employment with the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....
as a surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
and worked on layout for the towns of Mill Valley and Sausalito, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 1889 he opened an engineering office in the city of San Francisco. He was appointed chief engineer for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
The California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894, commonly referred to as the "Midwinter Exposition" or the "Midwinter Fair", was a World's Fair that operated from January 27 to July 5 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison appointed M. H...
in Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
in 1890. Later, in 1895, he was awarded a commission by the Mountain Copper Company to design a narrow-gauge railroad, and he began working for the Spring Valley Water Company, a private concern that controlled streams and springs on the San Francisco peninsula, later purchased by the city to become the San Francisco Water Department
San Francisco Water Department
The San Francisco Water Department is an agency in San Francisco that provides water service to residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco Water Department privately holds substantial amounts of undeveloped land in many parts of the San Francisco Bay Area.Since the mid-19th century...
.
O'Shaughnessy oversaw construction of several major water supply projects in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
beginning in 1889. These included aqueducts at Olokele, Koolau, Keanaiemaui, and Kohala
Kohala, Hawaii
thumb|right|300px|The districts of the [[Hawaii |Big Island]]. From Northernmost, clockwise; Kohala , [[Hamakua|Hāmākua]], [[Hilo, Hawaii|Hilo]], [[Puna, Hawaii|Puna]], [[Kau, Hawaii|Kaū]], [[Kona District, Hawaii|Kona]]...
for sugar plantations
Sugar plantations in Hawaii
Sugarcane was introduced to Hawaii by its first inhabitants in approximately 600 AD and was observed by Captain Cook upon arrival in the islands in 1778. Sugar quickly turned into a big business and generated rapid population growth in the islands with 337,000 people immigrating over the span of a...
. Upon return to California in 1906 he worked on the Morena Dam project outside San Diego and the Merced River
Merced River
The Merced River , in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley. It is most well known for its swift and steep course through the southern part of Yosemite National Park, and the...
Dam for the Crocker Land and Development Company. He also designed and supervised the construction of a water supply system for he city of Port Costa.
San Francisco Mayor James Rolph
James Rolph
James “Sunny Jim” Rolph, Jr. was an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He was elected to a single term as the 27th governor of California from January 6, 1931 until his death on June 2, 1934 at the height of the Great Depression...
chose him as chief engineer for the city in September, 1912, convincing him to accept a salary less than half that of his private practice. O'Shaughnessy was uncertain that he wanted the job because in the past, the city had not always paid him for work done. His wife, a native of San Francisco, convinced him to accept. O'Shaughnessy issued dozens of reports during his years in office, nearly all descriptions of engineering projects intended to educate city's officials and the population. He once complained that he had to run "an engineering school, where, as fast as he could teach the Supervisors what it was all about, the public turned them out and sent him new pupils." In this position O'Shaughnessy supervised the construction of the Twin Peaks Reservoir, the Stockton Street Tunnel, the Twin Peaks Tunnel, the Municipal Railway System and service to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)
The Panama-Pacific International Exposition was a world's fair held in San Francisco, California between February 20 and December 4 in 1915. Its ostensible purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely seen in the city as an opportunity to showcase its recovery...
along with streets, a high-pressure fire system and new sewers. San Francisco's streetcar system, of which the J, K, L, M, and N lines survive today, was pushed to completion by O'Shaughnessy between 1915 and 1927, but city voters defeated the bond issue he backed in 1927.
Hetch Hetchy
O'Shaughnessy's largest and most controversial project was the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is a reservoir in Yosemite National Park, about northeast from the city of Merced, California. The reservoir has a capacity of and is formed by the concrete gravity O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley on the Tuolumne River...
and power project (O'Shaughnessy Dam
O'Shaughnessy Dam
The O'Shaughnessy Dam is a curved gravity dam on the Tuolumne River in the Hetch Hetchy Valley of California's Sierra Nevada. The dam is located in Yosemite National Park, and creates the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. It is named for former San Francisco chief engineer and the original chief engineer of...
). While San Francisco rebuilt after the Earthquake and Fire of 1906 its current water supply was inadequate to meet future growth. Hetch Hetchy began with a dam in the Yosemite and was linked to more than 150 miles (241.4 km) of tunnels, pumping stations and pipelines to San Francisco. The project involved building not just a dam, but also a 68 miles (109.4 km)-long railroad, several smaller dams, an aqueduct 156 miles (251.1 km) long that included 85 miles (136.8 km) of tunnels, some through solid granite, hydroelectric generating plants and transmission lines.
That the dam was planned for a valley in Yosemite National Park caused significant opposition. One of the most potent opponents was the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
and its founding President, John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
. After two vetoes by Teddy Roosevelt, on December 19, 1913, Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
signed the Raker Act
Raker Act
The Raker Act was an act of the United States Congress that permitted building of the O'Shaughnessy Dam and flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is named for John E. Raker, its chief sponsor...
. Construction began in 1914. Water from by the dam, named for O'Shaughnessy, crosses the foothills, the San Joaquin Valley, the coast ranges and San Francisco Bay through the Pulgas Water Temple
Pulgas Water Temple
The Pulgas Water Temple is a stone structure in Woodside, California, USA, designed by architect William G. Merchant. It was erected by the San Francisco Water Department to commemorate the 1934 completion of the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct and is located at the aqueduct's terminus...
and is stored in the Crystal Springs Reservoir
Crystal Springs Reservoir
Crystal Springs Reservoir is a pair of artificial lakes located in the northern Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo County, California situated in the rift valley created by the San Andreas Fault just to the west of the cities of San Mateo and Hillsborough, and I-280...
.
O'Shaughnessy lost control of the project in 1932 when the California Public Utilities Commission
California Public Utilities Commission
The California Public Utilities Commission is a regulatory agency which regulates privately owned public utilities in the state of California, including electric power, telecommunications, natural gas and water companies...
was formed. Edward Cahill was appointed to head the new commission and O'Shaughnessy's deputy, Lloyd McAfee, was appointed manager and Chief Engineer for the Hetch Hetchy project. O'Shaughnessy died of a heart attack on October 12, 1934, sixteen days before Yosemite's water was delivered to San Francisco's reservoirs. O'Shaughnessy Boulevard in San Francisco is named for him.
Popular culture
O'Shaughnessy was mentioned in the 2008 film Pineapple ExpressPineapple Express (film)
Pineapple Express is a 2008 American stoner action comedy directed by David Gordon Green, written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and starring Rogen and James Franco. Producer Judd Apatow, who previously worked with Rogen and Goldberg on Knocked Up and Superbad, assisted in developing the story,...
as Saul Silver's second favorite civil engineer. Silver also claimed that O'Shaughnessy invented the "cross joint" for smoking marijuana.
External links
- Guide to the Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy Papers at The Bancroft Library