Documentary History of American Water-works

Iowa Hill

Iowa Hill, California

Iowa Hill was founded around 1851.

The Iowa Hill Water Works are listed in an 1857 inventory of Placer County with J.B. Currier as owner. This was John B. Currier, who came to California from Quincy, Massachusetts. The system was sold to J.W. Myrick, who installed iron pipes around 1879 and died in 1886. He left his estate to his sister and niece in Massachusetts, and his estate papers include several receipts for repairs of the water works. No further information about this system has been found.

There is currently no public water supply system in Iowa Hill.

References
1857 Sacramento Daily Union, September 28, 1857, Page 1.
Town Water Works. Iowa Hill Water Works, by J. B. Currier.

1861 Directory of the County of Placer for the Year 1861: Containing a History of the County, and of the Different Towns in the County, with the Names of Inhabitants and Every Thing Appertaining to a Complete Directory
Pages 43-44: Iowa Hill.
Page 87: Currier, J.B. hotel proprietor, Iowa Hill
Page 148: Myrick, J.W. miner, Iowa Hill

1878 The Marysville Appeal Directory of Northern California for 1878
Page 286: Iowa Hill. Iowa Hill Water Works, J. W. Myrick, proprietor.

1882 History of Placer County, California: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches Of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, by Myron Angel
Pages 391-392: Iowa Hill

1884 John B. Currier He probably built the Iowa Hill Water Works and was the father-in-law of William M. Crutcher, who owned the Auburn Water Works.

1895 Facts about Pipe, Third Edition, compiled by Edmund Cogswell Convers, National Tube Works Company
Page 66: Iowa Hill, California. February 10, 1879. Having used and tested the efficiency of your lap-welded wrought iron pipe, I am prepared to state that in my opnion, for water mains, it is preferable to any other kind of pipe used.
(Signed). J. W. Myrick

1995 Iowa Hill: The Town that Refused to Die by Mary Parker
Page 76: For many the Iowa Hill water supply had been from a spring on the Morning Star Mine property which reached homes by gravity flow. This water, when tested, was about as pure as water· can be; but in 1992, because of the years of drought, the water supply had diminished and residents were forced to have wells dug.

2016 Historic Iowa Hill Cemetery, by Sharon Balmain
Myrick, John - Died 1886. Owner of the Iowa Hill Water Works, mine owner, Trustee in the Methodist Church. In his will he provided money owed by Jennie Little for water, to be paid by giving music lessons to Addie Wheeler. He also requested a Masonic funeral, with a Methodist sermon, and directed that his body be decently buried with proper regard to his station and condition in life. He wanted a marble head stone with a proper inscription, and a neat iron fence surrounding the grave. As per his request, his marble marker and iron fence can still be seen in the Masonic area of the Community Cemetery.