Michael O'Shaughnessy
| Michael O'Shaughnessy | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 28, 1864 County Limerick, Ireland |
| Died | October 12, 1934 (aged 70) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Occupation | Engineer |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Spottiswood |
| Children | 5 |
| Parent(s) | Patrick O'Shaughnessy Margaret O'Donnell |
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.
Michael O'Shaughnessy was born May 28, 1864 in County Limerick, 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.
He emigrated to the U.S. in 1885, sailing from London 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.
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