Documentary History of American Water-works

New Hartford

New Hartford, Connecticut

New Hartford was incorporated in 1738.

From the 1913 court case cited below: "In 1825 Henry Seymour, a resident of New Hartford, being the owner of land through which Stone Brook flows, made a lease to certain other residents of the same place, of water rights in the brook, and these lessees carried water from this brook into the village of New Hartford for their own use, and they, their successors, heirs, and assigns, have ever since used said water in the village of New Hartford. In 1891 the persons so using the water from this brook associated themselves by the name of The New Hartford North End Water Company, and since that association was formed have made no claim to any separate or individual right to said water, but have used and claimed it as members of the association or as takers of water from it. The defendant and its predecessors have been supplying, and the defendant is now supplying, a majority of the business blocks and buildings, and many of the residences, in the village of New Hartford, with water. The defendant and its predecessors have had various reservoirs on Stone Brook since 1825, and have distributed the water by pipes from the distributing point. This point, for about twenty years after 1860, was a cobblestone reservoir on the hill near Steele Road. Later, between 1890 and 1900, this was abolished, and the water was piped to the dry-well mentioned in the charter, which became the new distributing point."

In 1830, Isaac Kellogg, George C. Kellogg, Thomas Dyer, and Harvey Case began the manufacture of leaden aqueduct pipes in New Hartford, and two years later incorporated the New Hartford Manufacturing Company "for for the purpose of manufacturing woolen and cotton goods, and other articles, in a most advantageous manner. They entered into a contract in 1830 with several residents of Stockbridge, Massachusetts to construct an aqueduct using lead pipe. This system was apparently owned and maintained by this group, and it eventually fail into disrepair and/or disuse, and they removed the pipes in 1851. It is not known if they installed any other systems, and their New Hartford Manufacturing Company appears to have entered receivership around 1837.

Connecticut Courant, March 16, 1830, Page 3.

The New Hartford Water Company was incorporated in 1889 by R. R. Smith, George A. Spencer, and Walter H. Smith, "for the purpose of supplying the towns of New Hartford and Barkhamsted with pure water for public, domestic, and other uses." This company built a gravity system that began operation in October 1894, using water from South Mountain Brook.

The Village Water Company was incorporated in 1905 by Walter M. Smith, Clarence E. Jones, Thomas E. Myers, others who had earlier formed the voluntary association known as the New Hartford North End Water
Company. This company was still operating in 1940, but it's ultimate resolution is unknown.

The Town of New Hartford acquired the New Hartford Water Company in December 1976.

Water in the Town of New Hartford is currently provided by The Town of New Hartford Water Pollution Control Authority.

References

1832 Resolve Incorporating the New Hartford Manufacturing Company, May 1832. Isaac Kellogg, George C. Kellogg, Sanford Brown, Jr., Thomas Dyer, Harvey B. Elomore, Decius Humphrey, Harvey Case.

1889 An act incorporating the New Hartford Water Company, March 7, 1889.

1901 Robert R. Smith vs. The New Hartford Water Company, 73 Conn. 626, Supreme Court of Errors, First Judicial District, Hartford, March Term, 1901, April 2, 1901

1905 An act incorporating the Village Water Company, July 18, 1905.

1913 The New Hartford Water Company vs. The Village Water Company, 87 Conn. 813, Supreme Court of Errors, First Judicial District, Hartford, May Term 1913, June 13, 1913.

1921 "New Hartford Public Water Supplies, from Ground Water in the Southington-Granby Area, Connecticut," by Harold S. Palmer, USGS Water Supply Paper 466, 165-166 (1921)