Since its establishment by the 1932 City Charter, the SFPUC has enjoyed a national reputation among public utilities for the professionalism of its staff, and as a leading enterprise agency of the City and County of San Francisco. It has often led the way in expanding equal employment opportunities for women and minorities within San…
Category: History
A Look Back in History: Calaveras Plane Crash of 1960
A plane crash happened. The good news was that there were no fatalities and the pilot survived. In the news clips that follow, reporters provide very different takes on the misadventure of a young sailor on leave, 22-year-old Peter Gill, who crash-landed into Calaveras Reservoir on January 30, 1960. No doubt that there was plenty…
A Look Back in History: Pulgas Water Temple
Pulgas is the Spanish word for fleas, which were encountered by early Spanish explorers of the area. In this location, the name comes from the former Rancho de las Pulgas, an early Spanish land grant. The Pulgas Water Temple is commemorated as California State Historical Landmark #92, for being near the camping place of the…
A Look Back in History: Water Rights Dispute Resolved in Spring Valley Water Company’s Favor
What follows is an interesting bit of correspondence regarding water rights to Locks Creek, a 1.9-mile-long stream in San Mateo County, California. It is the largest tributary of Frenchmans Creek, a larger stream. Evidently, in 1922, a plaintiff, one D.B. MacDonald, had brought some form of claim to waters of Locks Creek, or perhaps simply…
A Look Back in History: The First Drink of Pulgas Water
In 1932, Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes to work on his presidential campaign. After Roosevelt won the Presidency, he appointed Ickes as Secretary of the Department of Interior in 1933. Ickes would hold this post for the next thirteen years. He was greatly involved with the New Deal, heading…
A Look Back in History: Gate, Interrupted
1910 was the year that the Water Temple was brought online in Sunol. The Sunol Water Temple was built between 1906 and 1910. But the gate to the property wasn’t built until 1910. In the letter written at mid-year (see proceeding page), S.P. Eastman, Second Vice President and Manager of Spring Valley Water Company, invokes…