Quite a career: an apprentice in his father’s plumbing business in Scotland; surveyor for the Tamalpais Land and Water Company; participant in the original survey of the Mountain Railway route; superintendent of the North Coast Water Company; 40 years service with the Marin Municipal Water District as its first superintendent; developer of two subdivisions, Sunny Heights and Bolsa Valley; Trustee of the Tamalpais Fire District.
He was also a Royal Arch Mason, and chiefly responsible for the establishment of Rotary in Mill Valley. He sponsored the movement resulting in the granting of the charter in 1926.
In 1897 he married Cora Elisabeth Gardner, a daughter of Jacob Gardner, for years overseer for the Throckmorton rancho where the Gardner family resided. Elinor Avenue is named for one of their daughters.
In 1915, there was a big fire on Mt. Tam. John Burt, the fire leader of the Tamalpais Fire Association arrived on the scene a few minutes after the fire was discovered.
Securing aid, he soon organized a force that cut a fire trail around the flames and put an end to further destruction. It is estimated that about 50 acres burned over with little damage.
(This vignette of Marin history is compiled for Marinscope by the Mill Valley Historical Society.)
Leave a Reply