F. E. Weymouth papers, 1902-1941

Frank Elwin Weymouth (1874-1941) is recognized as one of America's foremost reclamation and hydraulic engineers. He oversaw construction of most of the great dams built by the United States government in reclamation of arid sections in the western United States.

After graduating from the University of Maine in 1896, he was involved in construction of a 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, 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 U.S. government.

He entered the U.S. Reclamation Service in 1902 and was continuously connected with it until 1924. During his early years in the Reclamation Service he directed surveys and investigations for reclamation projects in Montana and North Dakota. In 1908 he became Supervising Engineer in charge of the Idaho District where 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 supervised building of the Arrowrock Dam in Idaho, which at 349 feet high was the highest in the world at the 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 Reclamation in the western U.S. In 1920 Weymouth was made Chief Engineer of the U.S. 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 in 1924, 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. As Chief Engineer of the White Corporation, he worked with the National Irrigation Commission of Mexico and was in active charge of the irrigation and reclamation project that were carried forward during the administration of President Plutarco Elías Calles.

In 1929, 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 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, a position he held until his death in 1941.