Biography
Born April 12, 1848 in Easton Pennsylvania, Henry Maxwell McCartney came West in 1868 as a survey engineer employed by the Union Pacific Railroad on the line through Weber Station, Utah. Developing his career in railroad engineering, McCartney figured prominently in the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad in Oregon and Washington; the Union Pacific Railroad in Washington, Utah and California; the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt lake Railroad from Salt Lake through to the California coast; and the Western Pacific Railroad throughout California. Other railroad lines McCartney helped construct were the Arizona and Utah Railroad in Kingman, Arizona; the Oregon Steam and Navigation Company in Portland, Oregon; the Ocean Shore Railroad in San Francisco, California; and a South American line in Peru. During his career, McCartney also had vested interests in McCartney and Company, a merchandising firm in Portland, Oregon; H. G. Hayward Company, a merchandising firm in Spokane Falls, Washington; West Grand View, a land development company in Salt Lake City, Utah; and land developments in Las Vegas, Nevada and Spokane Falls, Washington. He concurrently developed investments in gold, copper, iron, coal, oil and water. At the time of his death on October 16, 1915, McCartney was employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad land department in Los Angeles, California.
From the guide to the Henry Maxwell McCartney Collection, 1869-1911, (California State Library)
