Documentary History of American Water-works

Winsted

Winsted, Connecticut

Winsted was settled in 1750, and was merged with the town of Winchester in 1915.

The Winsted Park Fount was incorporated in 1844 by Luman Wakefield, Gideon Hall and Hiram Perkins "for the purpose of conducting water in subterraneous pipes or conduits from a spring on the land of Gideon Hall, or from one on the land of Alanson Loomis, (the said Loomis thereto assenting,) or from both to the east village of' Winsted, town of Winchester, and county of Litchfield." No evidence has been found that this company built anything.

The Borough of Winsted was authorized to construct water works in 1860, and built a gravity system that began service on November 10, 1862. The town of Winchester took over the Winsted Water Works in 1915 when it merged with the Borough of Winsted.

Water is supplied by the Winsted Water Works, which is owned and operated by the Town of Winchester.

References
1844 Incorporating the Winsted Park Fount. 1844.

1860 Authorizing the Borough of Winsted to Construct Water-works, and to issue Scrip for a Water Fund. June 23, 1860.

1862 Hartford Daily Courant, November 12, 1862, Page 2.
The trial of the Winsted water works, on Monday, was satisfactory in every respect, and witnessed with approval by several insurance officers and other gentlemen from Hartford. Streams of water, of almost any number and size, can be thrown to a hight of 75 feet-- enough to drown any building on fire, and to supply water for all purposes needed to every family.

1864 Hartford Daily Courant, March 19, 1864, Page 2.
The Winsted Water Works are now paying an income of about $350 per year, with a fair prospect of doubling the amount the coming summer. The Herald says the water is first rate, save that there is "a slight flavor of two or three who went in swimming over at the little pond last summer."

1865 Amending the charter of the Winsted Water Works. July 20, 1865.

1871 An act in addition to an act authorizing the construction of the Winsted Water Works. June 7, 1871.

1877 Amending the resolution authorizing the construction of the Winsted Water-works. February 21, 1877.

1881 Winsted, from Engineering News 8:510 (December 17, 1881)

1881 History of Litchfield County, Connecticut, Part 1
Page 198: WATER-WORKS. The first move towards the construction of water-works was an instruction to the warden and burgesses “to ascertain whether the borough has a right to draw water from Long Lake; -whether the amount taken through a six-inch pipe would be prejudicial to the manufacturing interests of the borough, and, if it probably would be so prejudicial, whether a reservoir of sufficient capacity to meet the wants of the borough might not be constantly filled by the waste water of the lake.” A petition was presented to the General Assembly, in 1860, for power to take water from Long Lake or the Little Pond, which was granted. The preliminary survey was made in 1860 and 1861. The works were constructed at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars, and at present there are ten miles of pipe. The supply is drawn from a beautiful sheet of water known as Long Lake, lying partly within the westerly bounds of the borough.
The first election of water commissioners was held , Aug. 1, 1860, when the following were chosen: Lyman Case, John T. Rockwell, and Wm. L. Gilbert. The present commissioners are H. Hungerford Drake, M.D., Edward E. Culver, John E. Pine.
From 1872 to June, 1879, the works were under the supervision of Dr. H. Hungerford Drake, under whose supervision the improvements of strengthening the embankments, removing the two bridges which stood over the waste-weir and substituting the combination waste-weir and roadway, and reconstructing the bulkhead were made.

1882 West Winsted, from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.

1883 Amending the resolution authorizing the construction of the Winsted Water Works. May 3, 1883.

1888 "Winsted," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1890 "Winsted," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.

1891 "Winsted," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.

1897 Revising and amending the charters of the borough of Winsted and the Winsted Water Works. March 17, 1897.

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

1915 An act consolidating the borough of Winsted with the town of Winchester. May 20, 1915.
Article XV Winsted Water Works.