1916 Hamlin Map of Los Angeles Sanitary Sewers

Extending L.A.'s sanitary sewer system.

This is a 1916 Homer Hamlin city map of Los Angeles, California, illustrating its sewer system.

A Closer Look

Oriented with east at the top of the sheet, coverage extends from Griffith Park to Point Firmin and the Pacific. Streets throughout are labeled. Colored lines highlight sewers constructed before July 1, 1915 (blue) and between July 1, 1915, and July 30, 1916 (red). The Southern Pacific Railroad's lines are illustrated. City boundaries are demarcated by dotted and dashed lines. These boundaries prove interesting, highlighting annexations made in 1915 and 1916. One of these, The Palms District, extends off the left side of the map and is continued further down the sheet.

Publication History and Census

This map was created by Homer Hamlin for publication in the 1916 report of the City Engineer. We have located no other cataloged examples of the separate map, but know of one example of the full report, held by the City Archives and Records Center in Los Angeles.

Cartographer

Homer Hamlin (August 27, 1864 - May 14, 1920) was an American civil engineer. Born in Pine Island, Minnesota, Hamlin attended public schools in Minnesota and spent one year enrolled at a college in Rochester, Minnesota. He moved to San Diego, California, at the age of 22 and began working in the city engineering department. After 'some time' there he moved on to work in private engineering firms. Hamlin moved to Los Angeles in 1894 and worked in the County Surveyor department and the City Engineer department for the next 7 years. He was appointed Chief Deputy of Field Forces, City Engineer, in January 1899, and held that position for three years. Hamlin joined the United States Reclamation Service in 1901 and worked as an engineer on the construction of the Laguna Dam across the Colorado River. He returned to working for the city of Los Angeles in August 1906 when he was named City Engineer of Los Angeles, a position he held until July 1917. As City Engineer, Hamlin supervised numerous construction projects, served on the Aqueduct, and completed the Outfall Sewer, a series of tunnels in water bearing formation. The City of Los Angeles acquired a strip of land that connected Los Angeles with San Pedro and Wilmington in 1909. Known as the 'Shoe String', Hamlin tirelessly campaigned for the land acquisition. Impressively, Hamlin largely taught himself engineering. He died in Washington, D.C. while serving as a delegate of the Association of Water Users of the Salt River Valley.   Further Details...

Source

Hamlin, H., City Engineer Annual Report, 1915 - 1916, 1916.    

Condition

Good. Wear and toning along original fold lines. Slight loss at most fold intersections. Small stabilized tears emanating from loss at fold intersections. Closed margin tears professionally repaired on verso. Verso repairs to fold separations.