William F. Herrin

William Franklin Herrin (August 7, 1854 – February 28, 1927) was an American lawyer, businessman, banker and real estate developer.

Biography Herrin assisted William Sharon (1821-1885) in his acrimonious divorce from his wife Sarah. He subsequently became Chief Counsel for the Sharon estate and the Spring Valley Company. He allegedly nominated gubernatorial candidates, supreme court justices, and appellate court judges. In 1908, in the San Francisco Call, James W. Rea, a former associate, accused him and Jere Burke of corruption over bonds of the San Jose and Los Gatos Interurban Railroad Company. After drilling for oil and only finding water, they reorganized their business into the Rodeo Land and Water Company to develop a new residential town later known as Beverly Hills, California. From 1904 to 1906, he worked with John Muir to convince Congress to include the Yosemite Valley as part of the Yosemite National Park. He was a member of the Bohemian Club and the Committee of Fifty (1906).

Personal life Herrin resided at 2530 Broadway at Scott Street in San Francisco, California, in a house designed by architect Julius E. Krafft.