The Valley of Heart's Delight
CHARLES F. W. HERRMANN
SURVEYOR of SANTA CLARA COUNTY
HISTORY OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY 500
SURNAMES: PURGOLD, HOERST
A finely-trained, experienced and thoroughly practical civil engineer
and surveyor is Charles Herrmann of San Jose, for three terms the
surveyor of Santa Clara County. He was born in Germany in April, 1846,
the son of A. Herrmann, a German by birth, and his English-born wife,
who was Eliza Purgold before her marriage. Charles attended the
Polytechnic Schools at Hanover and Carlsruhe, and in 1865 was graduated
as a civil engineer. Then he accepted the post of mechanical engineer
on the steamer Saxonia, and made about twenty trips between New York
and Germany. In 1867 he took up civil engineering and surveying in his
native land.
In the spring of 1869, Mr. Herrmann came out to California by way of
the Isthmus of Panama, and having a brother, A. T. Herrmann at San
Jose, he came here and spent a couple of years at which time they
established the firm of Herrmann Bros., civil engineers and surveyors.
Later he was in the employ of the Southern Pacific at Sacramento for a
year as mechanical engineer and on returning to San Jose he devoted his
time to the interests of Herrmann Bros. He and his brother made the
first complete map of Santa Clara County, which gives each subdivision
of land with the owners' names, school districts, roads and other very
desirable data; it took two years, and the assessments for 1873-74 were
based on this map, and from it all later maps of the county have been
made. During his public service as surveyor of Santa Clara County--for
three years--Mr. Herrmann and his brother laid out Lick Avenue,
popularly known as the Mt. Hamilton Road, to Lick Observatory.
At Sacramento on April 14, 1872, Mr. Herrmann was married to Miss Helen
Hoerst, a native of Germany, but who was reared in this country from
the age of four years and with whom he has traveled life's journey in
the eventful intervening years. A Republican given to standing by the
party in matters of national moment, Mr. Herrmann is still so deeply
interested in Santa Clara County and all that may pertain to its
promising future, that he never favors partisanship as a local issue.
He owns a summer home at Saratoga, but has always lived San Jose. He
remains active in the Germania Club, and belongs to Schiller Lodge No.
105, I. O. O. F. of Sacramento, and lives the exemplary life of a
patriotic American.
Transcribed by Marie Clayton, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara County,California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922.page 500
[transcribers note: Numerous maps are noted via an internet search-----Thompson, G. H. and A.T. HERMANN. 1881. Plat of the Pueblo Lands of San Jose. Finally confirmed to Mayor and Common Council of the City of San Jose. Surveyed under Instruction from The United States SURVEYOR General by G. H. Thompson (1866) and A.T. HERMANN (1879). Final Approval April 2nd, 1881. Map on file, California State Office, Bureau of Land Management, Sacramento.]
SANTA CLARA COUNTY PIONEER BIOGRAPHIES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY HISTORY-The Valley of Heart's Delight