Peter Donahue, a founder of industrial San Francisco, made his way to gold-rush San Francisco aboard the steamship Oregon by way of Peru.
In 1849, Peter and his brothers (Michael and James) opened a blacksmith's shop at First and Mission Streets. Later, they expanded it into a foundry (which became known as the Union Iron Works) and added a gas works,[1] the San Francisco Gas Company, a forerunner of Pacific Gas and Electric Company.[2]
In 1860, Donahue organized the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, and in the 1870s he built a North Bay line from Donahue, California (at on Petaluma Creek[3]) to Cazadero, California which eventually became the Northwestern Pacific Railroad.[1] Donahue built the first railroad to serve Santa Rosa, California.[4]
The Mechanics Monument in San Francisco, unveiled in 1901, was a tribute to the Donahue brothers' contributions, commissioned by his son James Mervyn Donahue.[2]