Weymouth, F. E. (Frank Elwin), 1874-1941

Biography of Frank Elwin Weymouth

Frank Weymouth was born in Medford, Maine in 1874. He died in California in 1941.

Mr. Frank E. Weymouth was General Manager and Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a governmental subdivision of California which is now engaged in the construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Mr. Weymouth is recognized as one of America's foremost reclamation and hydraulic engineers. He has been in charge of the construction of most of the great dams built by the United States Government during the past 30 years in the reclamation of the arid sections in Western United States.

He entered the U.S. Reclamation Service in 1902 and was continuously connected with it from that date until 1924. During his early years in the Service he was in charge of the surveys and investigations in connection with reclamation projects in Montana and North Dakota.

In 1908 he became Supervising Engineer in charge of the Idaho District, in Northwestern United States, and in this capacity he directed irrigation projects in the Snake River region, an engineering work affecting more the 400,000 acres of land. The project also included the erection of large storage dams at Jackson Lake, Wyoming, and on the upper branches of the Snake River and Boise River.

During this period, Mr. Weymouth was in charge of the building of the famous Arrowrock Dam, in Idaho, 349 feet high, the highest in the world at that time of its construction. Between 1916 and 1920 he served as Chief of Construction in the Reclamation Service and was placed in charge of all work handled by the organization in the Western United States.

In 1920 Mr. Weymouth was made Chief Engineer of the United States Reclamation Service, a post which he held until his resignation in 1924.

One of Mr. Weymouth's outstanding achievements as an engineer for the Reclamation Service was his work, with late Arthur P. Davis, on surveys and the preparation of plans and estimates on the Boulder Canyon project on the Colorado River.

Upon leaving the Reclamation Service, Mr. Weymouth became president of the engineering firm Brock and Weymouth. Shortly after that he was offered the position of Chief of the J. G.White Engineering Corporation in Mexico, and immediately thereafter took charge of all engineering work being handled by that organization for the Republic of Mexico. A s Chief Engineer of the White Corporation, he worked with the National Irrigation Commission of Mexico was in active charge of the irrigation and reclamation project that were carried forward during the administration of President Calles.

Mr. Weymouth was graduated from the University of Maine in 1896. One of his first jobs after leaving the University was that of constructing water works systems for the (Boston) Massachusetts Metropolitan Water District. Immediately thereafter he became Assistant City Engineer of the City of Winnipeg and held this office until early in 1899. In June 1899, Mr. Weymouth joined the Isthmus Canal Commission of the United States Government and was engaged in making detailed surveys and studies in connection with the proposed Nicaraguan Canal for the United States government.

In 1929, following his years of service with the United States Reclamation Service and in the Republic of Mexico, Mr. Weymouth was retained by the City of Los Angeles as Chief Engineer of Water Works, and was placed in charge of Colorado River Aqueduct studies then being carried forward by the city.

Late in 1929 Mr. Weymouth was appointed Chief Engineer of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. In 1931 he was appointed General Manager and Chief Engineer of the District and made the District's chief administrative officer as well as its chief engineer.

From the guide to the Frank E. Weymouth Papers, Water Resources Collection, 1894-1941, (Libraries of the Claremont Colleges. Special Collections, Honnold/Mudd Library.)