Documentary History of American Water-works

Granby

Granby, Connecticut

Granby was incorporated in 1786.

Around 1868, local residents purchased an old mill site on Bissell's Brook and used a water-powered pump to push water up a main line along Salmon Brook Street to a tank behind Loomis Brothers' Store.

The Salmon Brook Water Company was incorporated in 1872 by Jairus Case, James N. Loomis, Chester P. Loomis, Samuel Benjamin, Miles G. Gaines, George H. Dibble, James P. Brace, Calvin B. Dibble, and Edmund Holcomb for the purpose "of supplying pure water for public, domestic, and manufacturing purposes to the village of Salmon Brook, in the town of Granby." The company acquired the 1868 system, which pumped water with a hydraulic ram.

The company was insolvent in 1908 and reorganized under the same name.

The company stock was given to the Salmon Brook Lighting District around 1943, which was renamed the Salmon Brook District.

Water in the center of Granby is provided by the Salmon Brook Water District. The Aquarion Water Company covers some of the southern portion of town near Route 10.

References
1872 Incorporating the Salmon Brook Water Company. July 24, 1872.

1897 "Granby," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.

1908 "Salmon Brook Water Co.," Hartford Courant, March 3, 1908, Page 6.
Creditors of Granby concern file list of their claims.

1908 "Superior Court Cases," Hartford Courant, March 14, 1908, Page 6.
Jamie Lee Loomis, the receiver, was granted authority to sell the property of the Salmon Brook Water Company, a Granby corporation.

1915 Third Annual Report of the Public Utilities Commission
Page 793: The Salmon Brook Water Company rates

1943 An act concerning the Salmon Brook Lighting District. March 11, 1943. Name changed to Salmon Brook District; May purchase Salmon Brook Water Company.

1952 "The Salmon Brook Water Company," by William M. Maltbie, ms. in Granby file: "Salmon Brook District," SBHS.

1960 "Granby Old Scenes Revived in Society's Exhibit," Hartford Courant, June 1, 1960, Page 50.
The areas has a municipal water supply, the nucleus of which was in operation in 1923. Water was then formed into the mains from a pond beside Bissell Brook by hydraulic rams (self-powered pumps). Water service came about through the formation of the Salmon Brook Water Col, a locally-owned stock company. Stockholders recently gave their equity in the company to the Salmon Brook District. Since then a well has been drilled and a new supply tank erected on the hill overlooking Granby Center. Electric pumps now maintain a constant head of water for the now larger mains and hydrants in the district.

1967 The Heritage of Granby, 1786-1965 : its founding and history.

1984 "Service District Asks Granby for More Involvement," Hartford Courant, May 17, 1984, Page E1.
Jamie Lee Loomis, the receiver, was granted authority to sell the property of the Salmon Brook Water Company, a Granby corporation.
Salmon Brook Water Co. was established in 1872 and the lighting district in 1914. In 1945, the lighting unit took over the other and became Salmon Brook District.

1995 'The Salmon Brook District: Granby's Water Company,"by Liana Lareau, April 30, 1995. In Granby file: "Salmon Brook District," SBHS.

1996 A Tempest in a Small Town: The Myth and Reality of Country Life : Granby, Connecticut, 1680-1940, by Mark Williams
Page 387: In 1876, the same group that had created the library and the South Church incorporated into the Salmon Brook Water Company with $5000 capital. They had already purchased an old mill site on Bissell' s Brook and had been using a water-powered pump to push water up a main line along Salmon Brook Street to a tank behind Loomis Brothers' Store. Subscribers along the way were billed for the service.
Page 409: Of course, if a civic improvement did not cost anything, nor threaten anyone's livelihood, Granby farmers were happy to cheer it on. In October, 1892, for example, the town meeting voted to give permission for the Salmon Brook Water Company to erect an iron watering tub at Granby Street on town property a little south of the public park. It took six years for the town to follow up with a $6 per year payment, even though the public had certainly made good use of the tub with every trip to Loomis Brothers' Store.
Page 433: More importantly, the members of the Salmon Brook Water District were conducting a concerted campaign to electrify the town, beginning, of course, with Granby Street.
The Water District had been reconstituted in 1908.
Page 525: Note 16. William M. Maltbie, 'The Salmon Brook Water Company" (1952), ms. in Granby file: "Salmon Brook District," SBHS. Granby Land Records, XXX, 398, 573. Apparently the water company had been operating since 1868.
Page 531: William M. Maltbie, ''The Salmon Brook Water Co.;" and Liana Lareau, ''The Salmon Brook District: Granby's Water Company," April 30, 1995, both