San Francisco County
Biographies
WALTER
HAROLD KIRKBRIDE
With the construction and maintenance of railroads in the west Walter Harold Kirkbride has been prominently identified for many years as a civil engineer, and is now in charge of the department of maintenance of way and structures of the Pacific Lines of the Southern Pacific Company, with headquarters in San Francisco. He was born in Pueblo, Colorado, January 22, 1874, a son of Rev. Charles H. and Louise (Holloway) Kirkbride, of whom more extended mention is made elsewhere in this work in connection with the sketch of Charles N. Kirkbride.
Mr. Kirkbride supplemented his grammar school education by attendance at the University of the Pacific at San Jose. In 1891 he entered the Leland Stanford Jr. University at Palo Alto, with the Pioneer freshman class, majoring in civil engineering, and graduated in 1895 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. In that year he made his initial step as a civil and mining engineer and was made United States deputy mineral surveyor. From 1898 until 1902 he was with the Sierra Railway of California as assistant chief engineer on location and construction, and in August of the latter year joined the engineering force of the Shasta Mineral Belt Railway as chief of the field party; following which he was employed by the Southern Pacific Company and for twenty-nine years has been associated with the Pacific Lines of that company, performing his duties with thoroughness and efficiency, and steadily advancing in the service of the road. He was assistant engineer of the Sacramento division from 1902 until 1904; roadmaster from 1904 to 1906; assistant resident engineer from 1906 to 1909; division engineer of the Coast and Sacramento divisions from 1909 to 1917; assistant superintendent of the Sacramento division during 1917 and 1918; chief engineer under the jurisdiction of the United States railroad administration at San Francisco from 1918 to 1920, and has since been engineer in charge of maintenance of way and structures. Specializing in railroad work, he excels in that branch of engineering and has perfected several railroad devices, being the inventor of a nationally known rail gauge plate.
On the 26th of February, 1902, Mr. Kirkbride was married in Nevada City, California, to Miss Martha Sims, a daughter of the Rev. Josiah and Mary (Pooley) Sims, who were natives of England. A minister of the Congregational Church, the father devoted many years to pastoral and fraternal work and also found time for legislative service, becoming a member of the general assembly of California. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkbride have one child, Audrey, who was born in Red Bluff, California, October 20, 1904.
The residence of the family is at 40 Santa Monica way, San Francisco, and Mr. Kirkbride’s office is located at 65 Market street. His political support is given to the republican party and fraternally he is a mason, identified with the California Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M., of San Francisco, and the California bodies of the Scottish Rite; and is a member of the national college fraternity Phi Kapa Psi.
With the cultural life of the city Mrs. Kirkbride is closely connected through her membership in the San Francisco Musical Club and the Sorosis Club, and in literary circles she is well known as the authoress of a book of beautiful poems, entitled “Love Whispering in My Garden.”
Mr. Kirkbride is a member of the Commonwealth Club and Engineers’ Club of San Francisco; is a member of the national society of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is a past president and director of the local section of that society; a member of the American Railway Engineering Association, a director from 1925 to 1928, and serves on important committees of this association; and a member of the American Wood Preservers’ Association, serving on their committees. His leisure hours are largely spent in the open and, like many Californians, he enjoys mountain climbing. While he has not realized the ambition of his boyhood, which was to become a miner. Mr. Kirkbride has done notable work as an inventor, as well as in the field of civil engineering, and is accorded a place of distinction in his profession.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 2 Pages 231-233.
© 2007 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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