George Washington Goethals

George Washington Goethals ( born June 29, 1858 in Brooklyn, † January 21, 1928 ) was an officer of the United States Army and engineer.

Goethals studied at the City College of New York and at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In 1880 he finished his studies and became an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. In 1891 he was promoted to Captain.

1906, the U.S. began under the direction of Major General George Washington Goethals, the construction of the Panama Canal; 1914 to 1917 he was himself first civilian Governor of the Panama Canal Zone. In Panama, a monument dedicated in New York City, a bridge was named after him, connects the Staten Iceland with New Jersey. His descendants live distributed in the U.S., and a branch ends in Germany.