George Chaffey
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George Chaffey (born in Brockville, Ontario in 1848, died 1932) was a Canadian engineer who with his brother William developed large parts of Southern California, including what became the cities of Etiwanda, Ontario, and Upland, and undertook similar developments in Australia which became the city of Mildura, and the town of Renmark and Paringa.
By 1880 he was well established as a designer of ships for Great Lakes traffic. While visiting his father in California that year, however, he became interested in the Riverside irrigation colony. By 1886 he and his brother William had established the irrigation colonies of Etiwanda, Ontario, and Upland, which were extremely successful, thanks in large part to innovative features such as hydroelectric systems using mountain water, mutual water companies which eliminated disputes over water, and a college endowed by the Chaffeys. His innovative electrical system at Etiwanda led Los Angeles to hire him to install its first street lights. He eventually became president and engineer of the Los Angeles Electric Company.
In 1886, at the invitation of the Australian government, the Chaffeys undertook several irrigation projects in Australia, establishing colonies at Mildura and Renmark. These were financial failures, however, and George Chaffey returned to California. William remained in Mildura, which eventually became successful. Back in California, George joined the California Development Company as chief engineer and undertook a project to irrigate the Colorado Desert. The Colorado Desert was renamed by the Canadian party and is now known as the Imperial Valley. Chaffey along with the other pioneers believed this name would bring more people to this southwestern part of California.
[edit] Sources
- www.chaffey.org, article by Robert E. Ellingwood and Marie Boyd
- Ontario Heritage Foundation
- Government of Canada digital collections
[edit] References
- Tyrrell, Ian. (1999) True gardens of the Gods : Californian-Australian environmental reform, 1860-1930. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21346-7
- Alexander, J. A. (1928) The life of George Chaffey; a story of irrigation beginnings in California and Australia. Melbourne: Macmillan & co. ltd.
