WILLIAM HOOD
William Hood was one of the engineers during the building of the old
Central Pacific Railway on the coast, and is one of the few survivors who can
speak from personal recollection of railroad pioneering across the continent.
William Hood was born February 4, 1846, and at the end of the Civil war
was a soldier in Company A of the Fortieth Massachusetts Infantry. He graduated
from the Chandler Scientific Department of Dartmouth College in 1867 and at
once joined a field engineering party and in 1868 became assistant engineer for
the Central Pacific Railway Company, and from 1875 to 1883 was chief assistant
engineer of the Southern Pacific. In June 1883, he was made assistant engineer
of the Central Pacific Railway, and on October 10 of the same year, chief
engineer, serving in that capacity until 1885. He was chief engineer of the
Southern Pacific System until June, 1900, and thereafter was chief engineer of
the Southern Pacific Company, serving until his retirement on May 3, 1921. Mr.
Hood’s home is at 2524 Filbert Street, San Francisco. He has been married three
times, but has no children.
Louise E. Shoemaker Transcriber February 20, 2004
Source: "The San
Francisco Bay Region" by Bailey Millard Vol. 3 page 91-92. Published by The
American Historical Society, Inc. 1924.
© 2004 Louise Shoemaker