Iron Men, California’s Industrial Pioneers

Here, in these pages, is the untold story of technology on the frontier.

The Irish Donahue brothers, upon their arrival in San Francisco in 1849, established a small blacksmith shop.  They soon expanded into a machine shop and boiler works, and then added a foundry.  Peter Donahue founded the San Francisco Gas Company which became part of Pacific Gas and Electric shortly after PG&E was founded in 1905.  Donahue’s next move was into transportation. 

From ship repair and ship building, maintenance and eventual construction of locomotives, Peter Donahue began planning both railroads and ferries.

Former California State Librarian Dr. Kevin Starr says, “In this exhaustively researched, well written triple biography of the pioneering brothers Donahue...historian Richard Dillon has made an important contribution to the history of California and the story of the Irish in America.”

Paperback, 334 pages, $25.95