O'Shaughnessy, M. M. (Michael Maurice), 1864-1934.

Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy was a civil engineer, chiefly engaged in projects in the western United States and Hawaii. He was best known as City Engineer of San Francisco from 1912 to 1932.

From the description of M.M. O'Shaughnessy papers, 1882-1937. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 84653204

Biographical Information

Michael Maurice (M. M.) O'Shaughnessy was born in Limerick, Ireland, on May 28, 1864, the son of Patrick and Margaret (O'Donnell) O'Shaughnessy. One of nine children, he was educated in the public schools in Ireland, and attended Queen's College, Cork, and then in Galway. He graduated with honors from the Royal University, Dublin on October 21,1884, and received the degree of Bachelor of Engineering.

0n March 8, 1885, O'Shaughnessy sailed for America and ten days later reached New York City, then proceeded on to San Francisco, arriving on March 30, 1885. He began his career working as Assistant Engineer, first for the Sierra Valley and Mohawk Railroad (1885-1886) and later for Southern Pacific Railroad (1886-1888) at various locations throughout California. He began private consulting as a civil engineer in August 1888, and undertook the surveying and engineering of land developments in California, laying out a number of small towns. From 1890 to 1898, he was in general engineering practice in California, with an office in San Francisco. He served as Chief Engineer of the 1893 California Mid-winter International Exposition; was Chief Engineer for the Mountain Copper Company and built 12 miles of narrow-gauge railroad in Shasta, California in 1895; and completed projects for several corporations, including the Spring Valley Water Company.

From 1899 to 1906, O'Shaughnessy was engaged in the design and construction of four large irrigation and hydraulic projects on about twenty sugar plantations in the Hawaiian Islands, including Olokele Aqueduct, Kauai; Koolau Aqueduct, Maui; and Kohola Aqueduct, Hawaii. From 1907 to 1912, he served as both Chief Engineer and Consulting Engineer for John D. and Adolph Spreckels' Southern California Mountain Water Company in San Diego, and completed the Dulzura Conduit and Morena Rock Fill Dam. Other work during this period included Throttle Dam (New Mexico), channel rectification on the Salinas River for Spreckels Sugar Company, Crocker-Huffman Dam on the Merced River, and development of the water works at Port Costa.

On September 1, 1912, O'Shaughnessy was appointed City Engineer by Mayor James Rolph, and received a yearly salary of $15,000—almost double that of his predecessor. He held the position for twenty years - until January 8, 1932, when a new City Charter was adopted that separated the ordinary work of the City Engineer from that of its public utilities, including the municipal water supply. On February 8, 1932, the newly formed Public Utilities Commission appointed him Consulting Engineer for Hetch Hetchy Water Supply, a position that he held until his death in 1934. Accomplishments during his tenure as San Francisco City Engineer include extensions of streets and sewers, design and construction of boulevards, tunnels, bridges, development of a high pressure fire system and fire alarm signal station, and municipally owned utilities, including a street railway system and water supply and hydro-electric power projects.

The major part of O'Shaughnessy's time and interest were occupied with the Hetch Hetchy Water Supply project. Former City Engineer Carl E. Grunsky had selected the Tuolumne River as the source of water for San Francisco, but there were lengthy delays due to opposition from many sources. O'Shaughnessy's immediate predecessor, Marsden Manson, kept the project alive, and following engineer John R. Freeman's report on the project in 1912, Congress approved President Wilson's grant of the federal lands to San Francisco. Construction work began in 1914 in the mountains and was finally completed in 1934, when water first reached reservoirs. The work required building a railroad, power plants and transmission lines, several storage dams and reservoirs, and an aqueduct. During the lengthy period of construction, O'Shaughnessy resisted attacks by numerous opponents of the project who sought to stop the progress of the work. In July 1923, the dam at Hetch Hetchy Valley was dedicated in his honor, and officially given the name, O'Shaughnessy Dam.

Throughout his career, O'Shaughnessy served as a consulting engineer for a wide variety of projects, including municipal, state and federal government endeavors, as well as corporate and private enterprise. Notable among these are water and power projects throughout California, including Strawberry Dam (Stanislaus River); Lower Otay, Barrett and El Capitan Dams (San Diego); Alpine Dam (Marin County); Bowman Dam (Yuba River); and Juncal Dam (Santa Barbara); and elsewhere in the U.S., including Skagit River, Seattle and Dix River, Kentucky. He advised on municipal transportation systems, including street railways in Detroit, Michigan and Tacoma, Washington, and waterfront development in Portland, Oregon. He also served in an advisory capacity for Marin County Municipal Water District and as Acting Commissioner of the waters of Lake Tahoe for the Dept. of the Interior. O'Shaughnessy was called upon as an expert witness in several land valuation cases, and reported on his studies of earthquakes for the City of Santa Barbara, and on the St. Francis Dam failure.

M. M. O'Shaughnessy was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers on June 4, 1902, and was active in the San Francisco Section, serving as its President in 1920. He was a regular contributor to the publications of the Society, and in 1913 won the James Laurie Prize for his article on the construction of Morena Dam, the largest rock fill dam in the world. He was a member of the American Water Works Association, American Society of Military Engineers, American Society for Testing Materials, and the Seismological Society, and regularly lectured to engineering students at Stanford University, University of Santa Clara, and the University of California, Berkeley.

In 1890, M. M. O'Shaughnessy married Mary Spottiswood of San Francisco. They had four daughters (Margaret, Mary, Elizabeth, and Helen) and two sons (Francis J. and Maurice, who died in early childhood). In 1893, O'Shaughnessy built a summer cottage at 60 Summit Avenue, Mill Valley, which eventually evolved into a 3-story, 10-room home with a tennis court, barn, and gardens laid out by John McLaren, the designer of Golden Gate Park. In 1912, O'Shaughnessy purchased 2732 Vallejo Street as the family's San Francisco residence, although they continued to spend summers in Mill Valley. He was a member of the Commonwealth Club of California, University Club, Chit Chat Club, Presidio Golf Club, Save the Redwoods League, and the American Irish Historical Society, and throughout his life remained an active member of the Roman Catholic Church.

M. M. O'Shaughnessy died of heart failure on October 12, 1934, just a few days before the mountain water from Hetch Hetchy flowed into the reservoirs.

Sources include: Memoirs : Michael Maurice O'Shaughnessy, American Society of Civil Engineers, 1934.

From the guide to the M.M. (Michael Maurice) O'Shaughnessy papers, 1882-1937, (The Bancroft Library.)