| Introduction | Historical Background | Chronology | Geography | Biography | Technology | Ownership and Financing | General Bibliography |
| New England States | Massachusetts | Boston |
Boston is the largest city in New England and was founded in 1630 by English Puritan settlers who moved from Charlestown on the north side of the Charles River to secure fresh water. Boston, like most settlements, relied on wells for water supply but as population grew the wells became fouled and were unable to support the growing population. Boston has had several public water supplies, including the first that used buried pipe.
Early Conduits
At least eight small water supply systems were proposed in Boston during
the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, most of which are believed to
have operated for at least some time:
Aqueduct Corporation (Jamaica Pond
System)
In 1794, group of entrepreneurs proposed supplying water to Boston from
Jamaica Pond in the adjacent town of Roxbury. The Massachusetts
General Court granted them a corporate charter the following year and the
system began service in August 1798. At its peak this system served
1,500 customers through 15 miles of wooden pipes and a ten-inch iron pipe
installed in 1840 from Jamaica Pond to Bowdoin Square. The system
was bought by the City of Boston in 1851 and then resold to the new
Jamaica Pond Aqueduct Corporation in 1857 with the condition that they
could not provide water within the City of Boston. The City of
Boston thereafter annexed the town of Roxbury and the Jamaica Pond water
system were shut down in 1893.
City of Boston Water
Works
The Jamaica Pond system only served a small number of customers in the
city (about 1,500), leaving most residents to rely on wells. The
City of Boston began studying water supplies in 1825 and after a long
effort decided to bring water from Long Pond in Framington, which was
renamed Cochituate. This system began service on October 24, 1848
and operated until 1951.
The Boston Hydraulic Company was incorporated in 1836 by William Sullivan, Daniel P. Parker and Caleb Eddy "take any ponds, or lands covered with water, situate northwardly of Charles river, and within twelve miles of the city of Boston, for the purpose of conducting water therefrom, through the town of Charlestown, in the county of Middlesex, and into and through the city of Boston," but the act would be void unless "the city council of the city of Boston shall, within four months after the passage thereof, declare, by vote, their assent thereto."
Local Civil Engineer Robert Henry Eddy was engaged on January 14, 1836 to prepare a report on delivering water from Spot and Mystic Ponds, which was delivered on June 13, 1836 as Report on the Introduction of Soft Water into the City of Boston. After nearly a decade of considering various water supplies, John B. Jervis and Walter R. Johnson were engaged in 1845 to report on Long Pond as a potential source. Their report confirmed its suitability and local voters agreed. Ellis S. Chesbrough was engaged to build the western portion of the system after which he became city engineer until 1855.
 |
| From Report
of the Commissioners Appointed by Authority of the City
Council: To Examine the Sources from which a Supply of Pure
Water May be Obtained for the City of Boston, by John B. Jervis and Walter R. Johnson, November 18, 1845. Document No. 41. |
 |
 |
| From Inquiry into the best mode of supplying the city of Boston with water for domestic purposes, in reply to the pamphlets of Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Shattuck and also to some of the representations to the committee of the Legislature on the hearing of the petition of the city, [by Nathan Hale] (1845) | Distribution
Department, Cochituate Aqueduct, Newton, Mass., May 6, 1909 Photographer: Tryon, Oliver, 1883-1922. Massachusetts Metropolitan Water Works Photograph Collection, 1876-1930 |
More than 100,000 gathered in Boston Common on October 25, 1848 to celebrate the opening of the aqueduct,
 |
| View
of the Water Celebration, on Boston Common October 25th 1848. Respectfully dedicated to His Honor Josiah Quincy Jr., Mayor, the City Council and Water Commissioners. |
Charlestown Water Works (Mystic Water
System)
The City of Charlestown built a water system in the early 1860s that
became part of the Boston water supply when that city was annexed in 1870
Sudbury Aqueduct
and Chestnut
Hill Reservoir
In 1878, the main stream of the Sudbury River was diverted via the
Sudbury Aqueduct to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Between 1875 and 1898,
seven major reservoirs were constructed in the Upper Sudbury River
Watershed. The Sudbury and Cochituate Aqueducts were designed to operate
by gravity to fill the Chestnut Hill and Brookline Reservoirs, both of
which are at 134 feet elevation. The Cochituate and Sudbury Aqueducts were
interconnected at Chestnut Hill.
Metropolitan
Water District
Created in 1895, built the Wachusett Dam and Reservoir that was completed
in 1908 and supplied water to Boston and 18 other cities and towns in the
district.
 |
| Metropolitan Water District, Wachuett, Sudbury, and Cochituate Watersheds and locations of Reservoirs, Aqueducts and Pipe Lines. (1916) |
Massachusetts
Water Supply Commission
Created in 1926, developed the Quabbin
Reservoir and Aqueduct
Tunnel.
 |
| Massachusetts Water Resources Authority System |
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority
(MWRA)
Created in 1984 and serves 2.5 people living in 61 Massachusetts
communities that are responsible for local distribution..
References
1825 Columbian Centinel, May 14, 1825, Page 2.
Board of Aldermen, May 12. The Mayor, Aldermen Marshall, Bryant and
Oliver, were appointed a Committee to consider and report upon the subject
of public reservoirs, to be used for the extinguishment of fires.
1825 Boston Patriot
and Daily Chronicle, May 19, 1825, Page 2.
In Common Council, May 16. Ordered, That the Committee on the
subject of protecting the city against fire, be instructed to inquire into
the practicability, expense and expediency of supplying the city with good
wholesome soft water, both for the general use of the inhabitants and for
the purpose of extinguishing fires.
1825 Columbian
Centinel, June 11, 1825, Page 2.
In Common Council, June 9. On the report of a Committee on the
subject it was "Resolved, That the Mayor and Aldermen be and they are
hereby authorized and empowered to cause a survey of such points or place
in the vicinity of this city, from which a sufficient supply of good and
wholesome water may be obtained, and that, for carrying this resolution
into effect the sum of one thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby
appropriated."
1825 Report
made to the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Boston on the subject of
supplying the inhabitants of that city with water, November 4,
1825, by Daniel Treadwell. | also here
|
Page 4: The supply ought not to be less than 1,600,000
gallons. [His calculations allow 147.5 gallons per family for all
uses, including trades, watering cattle and streets, waste and leaks, but
not supply for fighting fires, for a total of 1,180,000 gallons per day at
present.]
1825 Boston Patriot
and Daily Chronicle, November 16, 1825, Page 2.
Board of Aldermen, Nov. 14. The committee upon the subject of
causing fresh water to be brought into the city, made a report,
accompanied with a report and calculation made by Daniel Treadwell, Esq.
pointing out several modes of effecting the same - which was committed to
the Mayor, Aldermen Blake, Bellows, Marshall and Oliver.
1825 Columbian
Centinel, December 14, 1825, Page 2.
City Council, Dec. 12. The Mayor, Aldermen Bellows, Bryant, and
Oliver, Messrs. Parker, Hallet, Boies, Fuller, and Rice, were appointed a
committee to consider the report of Daniel Treadwell, Esq. relative to
supplying the city with water; - to ascertain upon what terms the sources
of water, with the privileges appurtenant thereto, can be obtained.
1826 A
municipal history of the town and city of Boston during two centuries:
from September 17, 1630, to September 17, 1830, by Mayor Josiah
Quincy (1852)
Pages 394-396: Inaugural
Address of Mayor Josiah Quincy, January 2, 1826
Page 395: The calculation should be formed on one hundred and fifty
gallons for each family.
Pages 197-198: City Government. 1826. Measures
for Introducing Water.
1826 The
Boston News-letter; and City Record, Volume 1. January
28, 1826.
Page 80: Water Works.- The City of Philadelphia is well supplied
with water from the Schuylkill River, at a very great expense. The
whole extend of iron pipes, which conveys the water, is now upwards of
fifteen miles. It is estimated that the aggregate of water rents for
1826, will be $24,160. A handsome revenue will accrue to the city in
a few years, as "the water rents," after defraying all expenses, except
those incurred by the purchase of new iron pipes, yield and annual surplus
in the sinking fund of 15,000 dollars.
1827 Columbian
Centinel (Boston), August 4, 1827, Page 2.
Aqueduct. The Committee on the subject of the right of the City to
use the waters of the Aqueduct Corporation, reported, that the City had
the right to use such water in case of fire, free of expense, and
recommended that the subject be referred to the Committee on Reservoirs,
to consider the expediency of placing conduits thereto, in places remote
from the Reservoirs. The report was accepted, in concurrence.
1827 Boston Traveler,
November 13, 1827, Page 3.
Deaths. On Sunday last, Major Luther Emmes, Age 78, a worthy soldier of
the Revolution, who became disabled, and a legitimate pensioner, by the
wounds he received while opposing the enemies of his country.
1829 National Aegis
(Worcester), March 11, 1829, Page 3.
Died - In Lexington, Mr. Joseph Underwood, aged 80, of the remaining few
who met the British on the plains of Lexington, on the ever memorable 19th
of April 1775; and for many years superintendent of the Aqueduct
Corporation in Boston.
1834 Communication
to the City Council, on the subject of introducing water in the city,
by Mayor Theodore Lyman, Jr., January 29, 1834.
Page 14: I should not, therefore, put down the supply at less than
150 gallons daily to a family.
Page 15: It would not, therefore, seem either safe or wise to build
an aqueduct that would not ultimately deliver daily into Boston from
2,500,000 to 3,000,000 gallons.
1834 Report
on the subject of introducing pure water into the city of Boston,
by Laommi Baldwin. October 1, 1834. Baldwin's first report to
the Boston Aqueduct Corporation, dated May 16, 1834, is included as Appendix
A (pages 59-72).
Page 48: The quantity proposed is five million gallons daily.
1834 Plan of the Route of Pipes from Jamaica Pond, in Roxbury, to the Reservoir, at Boston, surveyed under direction of L. Baldwin, Civil Engineer. Drawn by W. S Ellison, May, 1834.
1835 Second report of Loammi Baldwin, engineer, made to a Committee of the Boston Aqueduct Corporation, January 19, 1835.
1835 Boston Daily
Advertiser, October 19, 1835, Page 3.
Aqueduct Corporation. - An adjourned meeting of the Aqueduct Corporation
will be held at their office, No. 8, City Hall, on Monday, Oct. 26th, at
11 o'clock. A.M. to determine upon the best mode of raising additional
capital, to meet the cost of laying down a capacious cast iron main pipe,
from Jamaica Pond into the city, so as to meet the increased demand of hte
inhabitants for pure water - also to determine the expediency of
connecting other sources of water with Jamaica Pond, as recommended by the
reports of Loammi Baldwin, Esq.; and of applying steam or water power to
raise the water to the elevated parts of the city. Per Order.
Thomas A. Dexter, Clerk.
1835 Report
on Introducing Pure Water Into the City of Boston, Second Edition,
with Additions, by Loammi Baldwin. November, 1835.
Baldwin's first report to the Boston Aqueduct Corporation is included in Appendix
B (pages 79-92), and also includes the second report (pages
93-99).
Page 50: I shall therefore proceed to the investigation of the means
of supplying or of bringing within the control of the town five million
gallons daily.
1835 A Treatise on Water-works for Conveying and Distributing Supplies of Water, with tables and examples, by Charles Storer Storrow
1836 An act to incorporate the Boston Hydraulic Company, April 16, 1836.
1836 Report
on the Introduction of Soft Water into the City of Boston. by
Robert Henry Eddy, June 13, 1836.
Page 9: Therefore, I shall feel safe in estimating this [Spot] pond
capable of supplying, on average, from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000 gallons per
day.
Page 23: Since the operation of the works [at Fairmount in
Philadelphia] commenced, a period of fourteen years, we perceive the
extent of consumption in the city amounts to 2,255,033 gallons per
day. Therefore if it has taken this time for a population double
that of Boston, to use but the above amount of 2,225,033 gallons, may we
not infer many years will elapse ere the city of Boston would consume an
equal amount, with fewer facilities for distribution at the commencement,
then were possessed by her sister city, Philadelphia.
1836 Report of committee appointed to inquire into possible water sources for the city, June 30, 1836. Sam. T. Armstrong, Chairman. Document No. 7.
1836 Memorial of the Boston Aqueduct Corporation to the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Boston, August 20, 1836.
1836 "The Water Question," Boston Morning Post, December 31, 1836, Page 1.
1837 Order under which the Water Commissioners were appointed and their duties prescribed. March 16, 1837. Document No. 1.
1837 Report
of the Commissioners Appointed Under an Order of the City Council, of
March 16, 1837, to Devise a Plan for Supplying the City of Boston With
Pure Water, November. 23, 1837 by Daniel Treadwell, James F.
Baldwin and Nathan Hale, Commissioners.
Page 4: If therefore we take for the supply of Boston, quantity
proportionate to that of London, according to the inhabitants, it would
seem that we shall not fall below the requisite quantity. This will
give Boston, containing about 80,000 inhabitants, 2,220,000 wine gallons
daily, on its present population, provided that the water were at once
taken as generally as it is in London.
Page 5: With these view of the increase of the city, we have thought
it necessary to provide, in our designs for the works for an immediate
supply of 1,600,000 gallons daily, to be extended in five years, to
2,500,000, and at the end of ten years, to 3,000,000 gallons daily.
Page 13: By this it will be seen that we are of the opinion that
Spot Pond may be relied upon to furnished an average of 2,100,000 gallons
day, - that the discharge may be taken as never falling before 1,600,000
gallons, - and may never be expected to exceed 2,600,000 gallons a day.
1838 Report on introduction of pure, soft Water into the City, accompanied by an opinion of the City Solicitor, relating to the same. January 29, 1838. Document No. 4
1838 Resolve pertaining to the Boston Hydraulic Company, with other Resolves in furtherance of a plan for supplying the City with pure soft Water. March 15, 1838. Document No. 11
1838 Memorial of the Boston Aqueduct Corporation to the Boston Common Council, March 19, 1838. Offered to sell system to city for $150,000.
1838 "Review. Reviewed Works: Report Made to the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of Boston, on the Subject of Supplying the Inhabitants of That City with Water by Daniel Treadwell; Report on the Subject of Introducing Pure Water into the City of Boston by Loammi Baldwin; Report on the Introduction of Soft Water into the City of Boston by R. H. Eddy; Report of the Commissioners Appointed under an Order of the City Council of March 16th, 1837, to Devise a Plan for Supplying the City of Boston with Pure Water," Review by: The North American Review, 46(99):541-544 (April, 1838) | also here |
1838 "Petition of Aqueduct Corporation," Columbian Centinel, November 3, 1838, Page 3.
1838 Report on the introduction of pure soft Water into the City, together with a report on the revised estimates of Daniel Treadwell and Nathan Hale, two of the Commissioners on Water -- James F. Baldwin, the other Commissioner, dissenting from said Report. December 20, 1838. Document No. 33.
1838 Columbian
Centinel, December 22, 1838, Page 2.
Pure Water. If the citizens mean to have pure water introduced into
the city now, or at any future time, they must take the matter into their
own hands, and petition the Legislature on the subject, or it is very
doubtful whether the City Government will take any efficient measures upon
the subject. While the City Government do nothing, the Aqueduct
Corporation are making every exertion to extend their grand and secure
their monopoly. If the citizens allow the present season to pass
without an effort, the opportunity of introducing an adequate supply of
water may be lost forever. Let the citizens look into it.
Civis.
1838 Papers
relating to the introduction of pure water, Document No. 9.
Communication from R. H. Eddy, March 1, 1838. Relating to crossing Charles
River by iron pipes through a brick gallery under the same.
Petitions and Remonstrances, March 1, 1838. Includes several
petitions, for, and memorials against the introduction of pure soft water
into the City.
Communication of L. M. Sargent, February 21, 1838. Information about
Boston Aqueduct Corporation.
Foreign Water Works, March 1, 1838, Minutes of evidence taken and
papers laid before the Select Committee of the House of Commons and the
Commissioners on the supply of Water to the metropolis in the years 1821,
1828 and 1834,
1838 Sketch of the civil engineering of North
America: comprising remarks on the harbours, river and lake
navigation, lighthouses, steam-navigation, water-works, canals, roads,
railways, bridges, and other works in that country, by
David Stevenson
Pages 293-295:The situation of Boston is somewhat like that of New York.
It is surrounded by the sea, and the supply of good water is far from
being sufficient for the inhabitants. Mr Baldwin, civil-engineer, has made
a survey and plan for the supply of the town, in which he contemplates
bringing water from some springs in the neighbourhood.
At present the town is supplied chiefly from wells. According to Mr
Baldwin's report, there are no less than 2767 wells in Boston,
thirty-three of which are Artesian. Only seven, however, out of the whole
number, produce soft water; and of these, two are Artesian.
Great difficulty has been experienced in forming many of the wells on the
peninsula of Boston, in some of which, on tapping the lower strata, the
water is said to have risen to seventy-five, or eighty feet above the
level of the sea.
The following very interesting remarks regarding two of these wells, are
quoted by Mr Storrow in his Treatise on Water-works.
"Dr Lathrop gives the following history of a well dug near Boston Neck.f
'Where the ground was opened, the elevation is not more than one foot, or
one foot and a half above the sea at high water. The well was made very
large. After digging about 22 feet in a body of clay, the workmen prepared
for boring. At the depth of 108 or 110 feet the augur was impeded by a
hard substance; this was no sooner broken through and the augur taken out,
than the water was forced up with a loud noise, and rose to the top of the
well. After the first effort of the long confined elastic air was
expended, the water subsided about six feet
"Dr Lathrop observes, that the proprietors of this well were led to
exercise great caution in carrying on the work, by an accident which had
happened in their immediate neighbourhood. 'A few years before, an attempt
was made to dig a well a few rods (16½ feet) to the east near the sea.
Having dug about 60 feet in a body of clay without finding water,
preparation was made in the usual way for boring; and, after passing about
40 feet in the same body of clay, the augur was impeded by stone. A few
strokes with a drill broke through the slate covering, and the water
gushed out with such rapidity and force, that the workmen with difficulty
were saved from death. The water rose to the top of the well and ran over
for some time. The force was such as to bring up a large quantity of fine
sand, by which the well was filled up many feet. The workmen left behind
all their tools, which were buried in the sand, and all their labour was
lost. The body of water which is constantly passing under the immense body
of clay, which is found in all the low parts of the peninsula, and which
forms the basin of the harbour, must have its source in the interior, and
is pushed on with great force from ponds and lakes in the elevated parts
of the country. Whenever vent is given to any of those subterranean
currents, the water will rise, if it have opportunity, to the level of its
source.'"
1839 Water: Mr. Baldwin's Report, by James Fowle Baldwin, January 22, 1839. Document No. 5. | text enabled pdf | also here | Recommends Long Pond rather than Spot and Mystic Ponds as a water source.
1839 Statement of evidence before the Committee of the Legislature, at the session of 1839, on the petition of the city of Boston, for the introduction of pure soft water, February 27, 1839.
1839 Proposed Act in addition to an Act to establish the Aqueduct Corporation in Boston. February, 1839. Senate No. 28.
1839 An act in addition to an Act to establish the Aqueduct Corporation, in Boston. April 6, 1839.
1839 Report from the Standing Committee on Water, with the Resolve Accompanying. April 29, 1839. For the Committee, Sam'l A. Eliot. Document No. 19.
1839 Report of the Committee on the Introduction of Soft Water into the City, September, 1839. Document No. 25. Recommended a city-owned system using water from Spot Pond.
1839 "Water," from The New England Gazetteer: Containing Descriptions of All the States, Counties and Towns in New England: Also Descriptions of the Principal Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Capes, Bays, Harbors, Islands, and Fashionable Resorts Within that Territory. Alphabetically Arranged, by John Hayward
1840 Boston
Post, February 5, 1840, Page 2.
Petition of the Aqueduct Corporation, stating that they were about to
present a petition to the Legislature of Massachusetts, for authority to
draw water from Spot Pond, whenever they can obtain a right to do so, by
purchase or otherwise, and conduct it to the city. It is believed
that expenditures will reach one million dollars.
1840 Boston Traveler,
September 10, 1840, Page 2.
Jamaica Pond Water. - The Aqueduct Corporation have just completed a new
line of iron pipe, from the pond to the city; and for the last few days,
an abundant and copious supply of this excellent water has been received
by families who before were favored with but a scanty supply. The
water passing through the new pipe is charged with a heavy deposit of
earthy matter - it is very yellow, and its taste bad. - Transcript.
1842 Half
Century Sermon: Delivered on Sunday Morning April 24, 1842, at
Jamaica Plain, by Thomas Gray
Page 12: In September, 1788, a difficulty first arose in respect to the
waters of Jamaica Pond being drawn off for the supply of a corn mill, so
far as to affect the wells of the inhabitants of the Plain, who considered
them as altogether supplied by the pond. This difficulty terminated in a
lawsuit; John Marston, owner of the mill, plaintiff, and Martin Brimmer,
David S. Greenough, and Capt. Daniel McCarthy, defendants (unsuccessful.)
Afterwards, in 1795, Mr. Marston sold his mill and privileges in the
waters of the pond, which had been granted by the town of Roxbury for said
mill, to the Aqueduct Corporation, for supplying the town of Boston with
Jamaica Pond water.
Page 31: Jamaica Pond, or lake, as it is now called, covers about one
hundred and sixty acres, and in its deepest place is from sixty to seventy
feet; and supplies, by means of an aqueduct, the city of Boston with water
perfectly clear, and so soft as to be excellent for washing, and for all
culinary purposes.
Page 35: The following is a copy of the vote passed at a meeting of the
town of Roxbury, August 4, 1796.
At a legal meeting of the freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of
Roxbury, held at the meeting-house in the Easterly Parish, on Thursday,
fourth day of August, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six.
The second article in the warrant being read and considered, the town
thereupon unanimously voted, That the waters of Jamaica Pond belong to the
town, and are and ever have been held under their direction and at their
disposal, and that it is the opinion of this meeting, that the design now
attempting to be carried into execution by the Aqueduct Corporation, of
drawing water from Jamaica Pond, (so called,) for the purpose of conveying
the same to the town of Boston, by subterraneous pipes, if carried into
effect, will be a daring attack upon the rights and property of the said
town of Roxbury, will operate to the great injury of the town, and more
especially to such of its inhabitants as are proprietors, or live upon
Jamaica Plain, the value of whose estates, we conceive, will be materially
affected thereby. And the Selectmen, to wit, Hon. John Read, Esq., Mr.
John Davis, Mr. Jacob Weld, Ebenezer Seaver, Esq., and Mr. John Williams,
together with Hon. John Lowell, Dr. Thomas Williams, Deacon David Weld,
Major Ebenezer Whiting, David S. Greenough, and Martin Brimmer, Esqrs., be
a committee in behalf of the town, with full power to use all lawful means
to prevent any waters being drawn from said pond for the purpose
aforesaid, and to prosecute any person or persons, or society who shall
draw the said waters for the purpose aforesaid, or for any other purpose,
not heretofore expressly granted at a legal town meeting. A true
copy. Attest, Stephen Williams, Jr., Town Clerk
1842 "Water Rents in Boston," New York Tribune, August 15, 1842, Page 1.
1843 Report of the Committee on the Petition of James C. Odiorne, for leave to bring into the City of Boston and Distribute Water of Spot Pond. February 6, 1843. Document No. 6. Also included as appendix A of this 1845 document.
1843 An act to incorporate the Spot Pond Aqueduct Company. March 24, 1843
1843 Historical
Sketch of the Middlesex Canal: With Remarks for the Consideration of
the Proprietors, by Caleb Eddy, Agent of Middlesex Canal
Corporation
Pages 10-18: [Proposal to supply Boston with water from the Woburn
upper lock.]
1844 Petition for a Charter for a Charles River Aqueduct Company. February 1, 1844. Charles Crocker, John M. Dearborn, and twelve others.
1844 Thoughts about water, August 31, 1844, by "A Selfish Tax Payer"
1844 Report
of the commissioners appointed under the order of the City Council,
August 26, 1844: to report the best mode and expense of bringing
the water of Long Pond into the city of Boston., November 9,
1844, Document No. 24.
Page 4: They refer in their report, to the water works of the City
of Philadelphia, as those which afforded as liberal a supply of water, as
those of any city within their knowledge, and they state that the
quantity, as appeared from the official report of the preceding year,
amounted to an average of 28½ wine gallons, to each inhabitant within the
limits of distribution.
Page 5: At this ratio, the supply of 250,000 inhabitants will
require 7,125,000 gallons of water per day.
1844 Hints to the honest taxpayers of the city of Boston, by Temperance
1844 Report of the commissioners, November 14, 1844. Document No. 25.
1844 Report of the commissioners, December 19, 1844, Document No. 26.
1845 Petition of the Spot Pond Aqueduct Company, January 5, 1845. Asking to remove the requirement that stock-holders were personally liable for all the debts of the company and to extend the time for completion of the aqueduct by two years.
1845 Remarks on supplying the city of Boston with pure water, by John H. Wilkins. [January 1845]
1845 Boston Courier,
January 23, 1845, Page 1.
Water. Mr. J. H. Wilkins has published in a pamphlet his thoughts on
supplying the city with pure water. This gentlemen was the writer of
several communications published in this paper in the months of September
and October last, which appeared to be the result of much investigations,
and to be dictated by an honorable regard to the future as well as the
immediate interests of the city.
1845 Boston Courier,
February 17, 1845, Page 1.
Water. To the Editor of the Courier, by John H. Wilkins.
1845 Proceedings before a Joint Special Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature, upon the petition of the City of Boston, for leave to introduce a supply of pure water into that city from Long Pond, February and March, 1845. Reported for the City Government by Nathan Hale, Jr. Document No. 12½.
1845 Argument on behalf of Joseph Tilden and others, remonstrants, on the hearing of the petition of the mayor of the city of Boston : on behalf of the City Council for a grant of the requisite powers to construct an aqueduct from Long Pond to the city / before a joint special committee of the Massachusetts Legislature, March VI, MDCCCXLV [i.e., March 6, 1845], by William J. Hubbard. | Also here |
1845 Mr. Shattuck's letter to Jonathan Preston on the Water Question, by Lemuel Shattuck, March 8, 1845. Answer to interrogatories of J. Preston in relation to the introduction of water into the city of Boston.
1845 Remarks on Supplying the City of Boston with Pure Water, Second Edition, with additions, by John Hubbard Wilkins [March 1845]
1845 Boston Courier,
March 12, 1845, Page 1.
The Water Project. Mr. Wilkins has recently published a second
edition of his pamphlet, concerning the supply of pure water for the city,
which contains some additional matter, in an appendix.
1845 Report of Joint Special Committee, March 13, 1845. Senate No. 92.
1845 Arguments and Statements addressed to the members of the Legislature, in relation to the petition of the City of Boston for power to bring into the city the water of Long Pond, by a Remonstrant [Makes references to the second edition of Wilkin's pamphlet, published in March, 1845.]
1845 An act in addition to an act to incorporate the Spot Pond Aqueduct Company. March 25, 1845. Repeals the individual liability of stockholders and extends the time for completing the aqueduct by two years.
1845 An Act For Supplying The City Of Boston With Pure Water. March 25, 1845. This act was rejected on May 19, 1845 by a vote of 3,670 yeas to 3,999 nays.
1845 How shall we vote on the water act? [April 26, 1845]
1845 Boston Courier,
April 28, 1845, Page 3.
"How shall we vote on the water act?" This is the title of a
pamphlet, published on Saturday, addressed to the citizens of
Boston. It is a review of the Act, which is taken, section by
section, and commented upon with candor. The act is dissected by the
hand of one, who knows what he writes about, and exposes the absurdities
and incongruities, with which the act abounds. We earnestly solicit
the attention of every voter to this pamphlet. It will repay a
careful perusal.
1845 Parliamentary Sketches, and Water Statistics. Being another word addressed to the citizens of Boston, in support of supplying the city with the pure water of Long Pond, by Walter Channing, M. D. May 1, 1845.
1845 Fellow citizens : the question is to be taken and decided ... whether you will accept the Act for supplying the city of Boston with pure water from Long Pond or Charles River. Signed and dated by John D. Williams and others of the Spot Pond Aqueduct Company, Boston, May 1845. Includes text of Act to incorporate the Spot Pond Aqueduct Company. | text enabled pdf |
1845 Address of the Faneuil Hall Committee on the project of a supply of pure water for the city of Boston, May 5, 1845.
1845 Emancipator and
Republican, May 7, 1845, Page 5.
How shall we vote on the water act?
1845 Remarks on the Present Project of the City Government for Supplying the Inhabitants of Boston with Pure Soft Water, by Henry B. Rogers. [May 7, 1845]
1845 Boston Courier,
May 8, 1845, Page 2.
The Water Question. A pamphlet was published yesterday, written by
Henry B. Rogers, entitled "Remarks on the present project of the City
Government for supplying the inhabitants of Boston with Pure Soft Water."
1845 Inquiry into the best mode of supplying the city of Boston with water for domestic purposes, in reply to the pamphlets of Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Shattuck and also to some of the representations to the committee of the Legislature on the hearing of the petition of the city, by a member of the late Board of Water Commissioners. [May, 1845, attributed to Nathan Hale]
1845 Boston Courier,
May 15, 1845, Page 1.
The Water Question. We have received a pamphlet, entitled "Inquiry
into the Best Mode of Supplying the City of Boston with Water, for
Domestic Purposes; in reply to the Pamphlets of Mr. Wilkins and Mr.
Shattuck, and also to some of the representations to the Committee of the
Legislature, on the hearing of the Petition of the City. By a member
of the late Board of Water Commissioners." It is understood to be
the production of Mr. Hale, the editor of the Daily Advertiser. As
we have not had time to read the pamphlet, and presuming that the writer
can give the best account of its contents, we copy the following from the
advertiser : -
1845 Boston Courier,
May 15, 1845, Page 2.
Reply
to the Address against the Water Act, of Samuel A. Eliot, John H.
Wilkins, Jonathan Chapman and thirteen others.
1845 Further remarks on supplying the city of Boston with pure water : in answer mainly to Inquiry into the best mode of supplying the city of Boston with water for domestic purposes, etc., by John H. Wilkins. [August 1845]
1845 Petition of the stockholders of Spot Pond Aqueduct Company : August 18, 1845, Document No. 27.
1845 Report on a petition concerning a subscription on the part of the city to the capital of the Spot-Pond Aqueduct Co. September 8, 1845, Document No. 29.
1845 Report on the chemical examination of several waters for the City of Boston, by Benjamin Silliman, Jr. October 29, 1845.
1845 Report
of the Commissioners Appointed by Authority of the City Council: To
Examine the Sources from which a Supply of Pure Water May be Obtained
for the City of Boston, by John B. Jervis and Walter R. Johnson,
November 18, 1845. Document No. 41. | text
enabled pdf | also here
|
1845 Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Water, to whom was referred a communication from James C. Odiorne and others, proposing to sell Spot Pond to the City. November 24, 1845. Document no. 40
1846 A review of the report of the water commissioners of 1845; : with an examination of some of its statements and estimates, by John Hubbard Wilkins.
1846 Report and bill for supplying the City of Boston with Pure Water, February 27, 1846. Senate No. 47. This report provides a good summary of the situation.
1846 An
act for supplying the City of Boston with Pure Water, March 30,
1846. This act was accepted on April 13, 1846 by a vote of 4,637
yeas to 348 nays.
Section 16. That said city of Boston is hereby authorized to
purchase and hold all the property, estates, rights and privileges of the
Aqueduct Corporation, incorporated by an act passed February 27th, in the
year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, and by any convenient
mode may connect the same with their other works.
1846 First quarterly report of the Joint Standing Committee on Water, September 24, 1846, Document No. 26
1846 The song of the well : a discourse on the expected supply of water in Boston / preached to the congregation in Essex Street, Boston, on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1846, by Nehemiah Adams.
1846 Report on Petition of Josiah Bradlee and Others for Purchase of Jamaica Pond Aqueduct, December 17, 1846. Document No. 32 | text enabled pdf |
1847 Second quarterly report of the Joint Standing Committee on Water, January 21, 1847, Document No. 5 | text enabled pdf |
1847 Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Water, on the petition of Silas P. Barnes and others : In Common Council, February 18, 1847, by Joseph W Coburn; Nathan Hale; James Fowle Baldwin; Thomas B Curtis. Document No. 8. | text enabled pdf |
1847 Report on the petition of Luther Munn and others on unusual and improper measures adopted by the water commissioners, April 29, 1847. Document No. 19.
1847 Water Commissioners' semi-annual report, December 2, 1847. Document No. 44.
1848 An act in addition to "An Act For Supplying The City Of Boston With Pure Water." February 29, 1848.
1848 Report of the consulting physicians of the city of Boston in relation the action of Cochituate water upon mineral substances : with documents accompanying, April 12, 1848. Document No. 18.
1848 Report of the Water Commissioners on the Material Best Adapted for Distribution Water Pipes: And on the Most Economical Mode of Introducing Water in Private Houses, August 14, 1848. Document No. 32.
1848 City Solicitor's opinion on the water rents. December 18, 1848. Document No. 45.
1849 Schedule of rates established by the Water Commissioners for the use of water from the Boston Water Works. Document No. 3.
1849 Report on Hydrants. January 22, 1849. Document No. 5.
1848 A Description of the Boston Water Works : embracing all the reservoirs, bridges, gates, pipe chambers, and other objects of interest, from Lake Cochituate to the city of Boston : with maps and illustrations | also here |
1848 Report of the Committee on Water on Purchase of Jamaica Pond Aqueduct by the City. December 14, 1848. Document No. 44. Recommends purchase of Aqueduct Corporation (except non-related real estate) for $75,000. Includes Memorial of Aqueduct Corporation signed by Thomas A. Dexter, Superintendent and Treasurer, November 10, 1848.
1849 An act in addition to "An Act For Supplying The City Of Boston With Pure Water." May 1, 1849.
1849 Service-pipes for water : an investigation made at the suggestion of the Board of Consulting Physicians of Boston / E.N. Horsford ; from the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Quarterly meeting, November 8, 1848, 2:62-99 (1852)
1849 Boston Aqueduct and the City of Boston, by Lucius Manlius Sargent, principal stockholder of the Boston Aqueduct Corporation. This was originally published as a series of articles in the Daily Evening Transcript in July and August, 1849. | text enabled pdf |
1850 Final water report. January 5, 1850. Document No. 3.
1850 "The Boston Watermen," Boston Weekly Messenger, January 23, 1850, Page 1.
1850 Water Board quarterly report. March 18, 1850. Document No. 7.
1850 "Report of a general plan for the promotion of public and personal health," by Lemuel Shattuck, Presented April 25, 1850, commonly referred to as the Report of the Sanitary Commission of Massachusetts |1948 reprint |
1850 An act in addition to An Act For Supplying The City Of Boston With Pure Water. May 3, 1850.
1850 Boston Evening
Transcript, July 23, 1850, Page 1.
Cochituate Water Board decides against public hydrants.
1850 Annual report of the Cochituate Water Board for the year 1850, December 10, 1850. | Map of the Cochituate Aqueduct 4 page pdf |
1851 An act in further addition to An Act For Supplying The City Of Boston With Pure Water. May 7, 1851.
1851 "Boston
Water-Works," from Sketches of Boston, past and present, and of
some few places in its vicinity, by Isaac Smith Homans.
Page 164: This pond, at its highest elevation, is 49 feet above
tide-water, and is capable of a maximum daily supply of about 50,000
gallons. In 1845, the company had laid about 5 miles of 8 and 4 inch
iron pipe, and 10 miles of wooden pipe, conveying the water to nearly
3,000 homes.
1852 Map of the Boston water works
1851 Report
of the Cochituate Water Board, January 15, 1852. | Map
of the Cochituate Aqueduct (pdf) |
Page 88: The standard of measure adopted by the Boston Water works,
is not precisely the wine gallon, but is exactly two fifteenths of a cubic
foot, so that in order to reduce the gallons in the foregoing statement to
cubic feet, it is only necessary to divide by 7½. It is to be
regretted that there is not some common unit of measure on all the Water
Works throughout our country; as it is, New York had adopted the Imperial
gallon, Philadelphia, the Ale gallon, and Boston, the Wine gallon. [One
wine gallon equals 7.48 cubic feet.]
1852 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1852, January 15, 1853.
1853 Annual Report of the Board of Water
Commissioner of the City of Detroit. In 1853, the new Board
of Water Commissioners of the City of Detroit sent superintendent Jacob
Houghton, Jr. to visit and report on water works in other cities,
including Boston.
Pages 24-25: Boston - Is supplied with water from Lake Cochituate,
formerly called Long Pond, from which it is conducted by means of a brick
aqueduct (except at the crossing of Charles river, where there is an
inverted siphon of fifty-eight feet dip), fifteen miles in length, with a
fall of four and one-fourth feet, to the Brookline reservoir. This
reservoir covers an area of twenty-two and one-third acres, and has a
capacity of 89,909,730 wine gallons. From the Brookline reservoir the
water is conducted through iron pipes to three distributing reservoirs, as
follows: one on Beacon hill, in Boston Proper, [capacity 2,678,968
gallons; the second on Telegraph hill, in South Boston, capacity 7,508,246
gallons; and the third on Eagle hill, in East Boston, capacity 5,591,816
wine gallons. From these reservoirs the water is distributed by means of
iron pipes. The basin containing the water on Beacon hill is fifteen feet
and eight inches deep, supported on arches, the whole being a massive
structure of granite, the walls of which, on Derne street, are fifty-eight
and three fourths feet high, and in the rear of Mount Vernon street, forty
feet and eight inches high. The other reservoirs are of the earth
embankment kind. The water is carried across the channel of Chelsea Creek
to East Boston, in a twenty-inch flexible pipe, with swivel joints, and of
nearly double the ordinary thickness. During the year 1852, these works
delivered 8,125,842 wine gallons per day, to a population of about
140,000. To January 1st, 1853, the works had cost $5,370,818.
1853 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1853. January 15, 1854.
1854 An act authorizing certain Railroads to Tap the Cochituate Water Pipe at Charlestown. April 24, 1854.
1854 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1854. February 1, 1855.
1855 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1855. January 15, 1856.
1856 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1856. January 15, 1857.
1857 An Act to incorporate the Jamaica Pond Aqueduct Corporation. May 8, 1857
1857 Documents of the City of Boston for the year 1856, Volume 1, containing documents from No. 1 to No. 87, Inclusive.
1857 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1857. January 15, 1858.
1858 Documents of the City of Boston for the year 1857, Volume 2, containing documents from No. 54 to No. 85, Inclusive. Sale of Jamaica Pond and Aqueduct, page 215 (and more)
1858 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1858. January 6, 1859.
1859 An Act To Authorize The City Of Boston To Raise The Dam At The Outlet Of Lake Cochituate. April 5, 1859.
1859 Documents of the City of Boston for the year 1858, Volume 1, containing documents from No. 1 to No. 13, Inclusive.
1859 "An Ordinance to establish Water Rates," November 15, 1859, from Municipal Register: Containing Rules and Orders of the City Council, the City Charter and Recent Ordinances, and a List of the Officers of the City of Boston, for the year 1861.
1859 Report
on supplying the city of Charlestown with pure water: made for the
City council by order of Hon. James Dana, mayor of Charlestown,
by George Rumford Baldwin and Charles L. Stevenson
Page 9: Water usage per person in Boston and other cities
Pages 72-73: Boston Waterworks. Receipts per 1000 gallons of
water; amount of water used; and classification of water takers.
1859 Life
of James Sullivan: with selections from his writings, Volume
1, by Thomas Coffin Amory
Page 243: In order to meet the urgent demands of our shipping in
Boston for additional supplies of pure water, he started an enterprise, of
which he was long the president and active agent, for an aqueduct from
Jamaica Pond.
Pages 373-374: Yet another public work, of some importance, at the same
time engaging his attention, was a project which he started for the supply
of Boston with pure water. Much of the well-water of Boston, from
proximity to the sea and the nature of the soil and formation, was hard
and brackish; and the rain collected in cisterns was often rendered
unpalatable and unsuited to domestic uses, from smoke and other
impurities. The population was increasing, and the area of the peninsula,
originally but about one thousand acres, was gradually encroaching on the
harbor. Our foreign commerce was in a rapid state of development, and it
seemed expedient to secure, in good season, from beyond the narrow limits
of the town, an abundant provision of the all-important element, as well
for the shipping as for the other wants of the inhabitants.
When, in the autumn of 1782, the French fleet, under the Count de Grasse,
was lying in the harbor of Boston, the admiral and his principal officers
were frequent visitors of Mr. Durant, a gentleman originally from France,
who resided five miles from the town, in what is now called Lakeville
House, on the borders of Jamaica Pond. Struck with the purity of its
waters, compared with that supplied from the usual sources for the service
of the fleet, the admiral ordered his butts to be sent to the pond to be
filled. One of the vessels shortly returning into France, some of the
water still remaining, for reasons not known, was subjected to chemical
tests, and found, upon analysis, to be unusually pure. Out of compliment
to Mr. Durant, to whose hospitality the French officers had been much
indebted, a certificate of the result of this examination, signed by the
expert employed, was sent back to America. When it was proposed, a few
years later, to construct an aqueduct for the use of the capital, the
pond, for this and other considerations, commended itself as the best and
most convenient source of supply.
Nearly a century before, in 1698, Joseph Belknap had obtained from the
citizens of Roxbury the privilege of applying the natural overflow of the
pond to the purposes of a grist-mill, for their own benefit and that of
the people of Brookline. Twice, when the mill had been put to other uses,
in 1739 and 1783, the selectmen of Roxbury had interfered. Whatever rights
had vested in the owners of the mill had been purchased of Marshall, its
recent proprietor, by Eames, Bond and Page, when, at the close of 1794,
they petitioned the legislature for a charter to carry the water through
an aqueduct to Boston. The inhabitants of Roxbury remonstrated, and the
applicants, in January, 1795, had leave to withdraw their petition. What
connection, if any, Sullivan had at this time with their plan, does not
appear from the documents; but, according to tradition, he was its
original projector. Procuring a vote from Boston approving the design, he
set forth its advantages in a petition; and, notwithstanding the renewed
opposition of Roxbury and its most influential inhabitants, which he was
able to overcome, the following month he obtained leave to bring in a
bill, which was passed.
1859 Life
of James Sullivan: with Selections from His Writings, Volume
2, by Thomas Coffin Amory
Page 106: In the city and state archives are numerous letters, petitions
and other papers, in the handwriting of Sullivan, in behalf of the Boston
aqueduct from Jamaica Pond, which was now already sufficiently advanced to
afford supplies of pure water to the inhabitants and navigation. He not
only continued, as its president, to give it his general superintendence,
but devoted to the undertaking much time and labor; and to his unremitting
efforts, in surmounting numerous obstacles, and much selfish opposition on
the part of individuals, it was largely indebted for its successful
accomplishment.
1859 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1859. January 15, 1860.
1860 Report
of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the
year 1860. January 10, 1861.
Page 7: This shows a consumption of 97 gallons for each individual
daily; an amount believed to be without parallel in the civilized world.
1861 Harvey
D.Parker & another vs. City of Boston, 83 Mass. 361,
January Term 1861, Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts
An assessment for a quarter of a year, made by the water registrar under
the direction of the water board of Boston, at the rate of two cents for
each one hundred gallons of water used in a hotel in Boston, the daily
consumption of which, as measured by a water-meter placed therein under
the provisions of the city ordinance, exceeds 10,000 gallons a day, is
legal; although water-meters have been put into only a portion of the
hotels in Boston, and although the assessment, if made according to the
provisions of the city ordinance applicable to hotels into which no
water-meters have been put, would have amounted to only about one fourth
as much.
1861 "Water-Works
of America. Boston, Mass.," American Gas-Light Journal
2:329-331 (May 1, 1861).
Summary of annual report.
1861 An act in amendment of the act for supplying the City of Boston with pure water. May 23, 1861.
1861 "Waste
of Water," American Gas-Light Journal 2:364 (June 1, 1861).
In the report of the Cochituate Water Board of Boston, Mass., it is stated
that the amount of water used during the year averaged the enormous amount
of 97 gallons to each individual daily!
1861 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1861. January 9, 1862.
1862 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1862. January 12, 1863.
1863 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1863. January 11, 1864.
1864 An act in further addition to "an act for supplying the city of Boston with pure water." May 13, 1864.
1864 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1864. January 5, 1865.
1866 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1865-66. May 25, 1866.
1867 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1866-67. April 29, 1867.
1868 History of the Introduction of Pure Water Into the City of Boston: With a Description of Its Cochituate Water Works, by Nathaniel J. Bradlee. This repeats Shurtleff's history of the aqueduct, which was originally published as articles and published in book form in 1871.
1868 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year 1867-68. May 14, 1868.
1869 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year ending April 30, 1869. May 6, 1869.
1871 "Ponds and Aqueducts" from A Topographical and Historical Description of Boston by Nathaniel Bradstreet Shurtleff.
1871 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year ending April 30, 1871. April 20, 1871.
1872 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year ending April 30, 1872. June 4, 1872.
1873 Report of the Cochituate Water Board, on an Additional Supply of Water for the City of Boston: With the Reports of the Chief and Consulting Engineers Appointed to Investigate the Subject. March 13, 1873.
1873 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year ending April 30, 1873. May 5, 1873.
1874 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year ending April 30, 1874. May 5, 1874.
1875 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year ending April 30, 1875. May 1, 1875.
1876 Report of the Cochituate water board, to the City council of Boston, for the year ending April 30, 1876. May 20, 1876.
1876 History of Charlestown, New Hampshire: The
Old No. 4, Embracing the Part Borne by Its Inhabitants in the Indian,
French and Revolutionary Wars, and the Vermont Controversy; Also
Genealogies and Sketches of Families, from Its Settlement to 1876,
by Henry Hamilton Saunderson
Page 498: Dr. William Page
1876 History of the Boston Water Works, from 1868 to 1876, by Desmond FitzGerald. August 4, 1876.
1876 "A Memoir of American Engineering," A paper read by John B. Jervis, C.E., Honorary Member of the Society, Read October 18th, 1876, from Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers 6:39-67 (1878)
1877 Annual report of the Boston Water Board, for the year ending April 30, 1877. May 1, 1877.
1878 Description of the Boston water works
1879 Water Works, by Joseph P. Davis, City Engineer. Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the City of Boston.
1881 Boston, Engineering News, 8:131 (April 2, 1881)
1881 An Act to authorize the city of Boston to attach meters to buildings which it supplies with water. April 15, 1881.
1882 Boston from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1882 Boston Water Works: Additional Supply from Sudbury River; Description of the Work with Plates, by Alphonse Fteley, Resident Engineer Additional Supply, 1873-1880
1888 "Boston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1890 "Boston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Boston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1891 Index
to the City Documents, 1834-1891: With an Appendix Containing a List
of City Publications Not Included Among the Numbered Documents
Pages 74-77: Water.
1892 A
Tenement House Census of Boston
Pages 116-125: Bath Rooms; Water Closets and Privies; Yards:
Disposition of Washington
1893 Annual Report of the Boston Water Board, for the Year Ending January 31, 1893, Volume 17
1893 An act relative to procuring a water supply for the city of Boston and its suburbs. June 9, 1893.
1894 Charles C. Worthington et al. v. The City of Boston, 152 U.S. 695, April 9, 1894, United States Supreme Court
1895 An act to provide a Metropolitan Water Supply. June 5, 1895.
1897 "Boston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1898 "Editor's Table," The New England Magazine, 17(6):774-778. (February, 1898) Text and comments on 1838 water petitions and public ownership of utilities.
1905 "Biggest
Pump in the World," Fire and Water Engineering 37:129 (March
18, 1905)
72 MGD pump at the Calf Pasture Pumping Station, built by I.P. Morris Co.
of Philadelphia.
1907 "Notes on Municipal Government. The Relation of the Municipality to the Water Supply, A Symposium," by Frederic Rex, Chicago, Ill.; Henry Ralph Ringe, Philadelphia, Pa.; Henry Jones Ford, Baltimore, Md.; Edward W. Bemis, Cleveland, O.; Prof. A. C. Richardson, Buffalo, N.Y.; Murray Gross, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.; Max B. May, Cincinnati, O.; James J. McLoughlin, New Orleans, La.; Delos F. Wilcox, Secretary, Municipal League, Detroit, Mi.; Daniel E. Garges, Washington, D.C.; Frank E. Lakey, Boston, Mass.; and W. G. Joerns, Duluth, Minn. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 30:129-164 (November 1907)
1911 Colonial
and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania: Genealogical and Personal
Memoirs, Volume 2, by John Woolf Jordan and Wilfred Jordan
Page 1103-1104: Colonel John Marston, son of Captain John and
Elizabeth (Greenwood) Marston, born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 27,
1756, was long engaged in the mercantile business in Boston, and became a
wealthy and highly respected merchant of that city. Just coming to
manhood’s years at the outbreak of the Revolutionary war, Colonel Marston
took an active part in the struggle for independence. Tradition relates
that it was his father who formed one of the “Boston Tea Party” in 1774,
but it seems more probable that it was the son who took part in the daring
act of patriotism than his father, then a man in his sixtieth year.
Colonel Marston was second lieutenant of the Ninth Company, Captain Perez
Cushing, Massachusetts Regiment of Artillery, Colonel Craft commanding, in
1776, his name appearing on the roll of that company as serving from
September 9, 1776, to February 1, 1777; again from February 9, to May 8,
1777; August 1, to September 30, 1777; November 1, to December 3, 1777;
January 1, to March 1, 1778; and March 1, to April 3, 1778. He served
until the close of the war, and later was identified with the state
militia of Massachusetts, attaining the rank of colonel. He removed late
in life to Taunton, Bristol county, Massachusetts, where he died December
1 3, 1846, aged ninety years and eight months. John Marston married,
August 4, 1784, Anna Randall, of London, England, and they were the
parents of seventeen children, nine of whom died in infancy.
1916 "Oldest
Employe of District Dead," The Washington Times, November
25, 1916, Page 3.
George H. Bailey had served in the Engineer Department Since 1878.
He was in charge of the Boston water works from 1847 to 1852 and
supervised the construction of the first water works. In 1852 he
went to Jersey City and supervised there the construction of the water
works, remaining in Jersey City in charge of the works until 1860.
Later he was employed as a consulting hydraulic engineer by a number of
municipalities.
1916 "George
H. Bailey Dies at 88," The New York Times, November 26,
1916, Page 21.
Mr. Bailey was born in Boston, was in charge of the Boston Water Works
from 1847 to 1852, and from that time to 1860 was in charge of the Jersey
City Water Works. He planned the erection of the first water works
in Newark.
1917 "Pumping in the Metropolitan Water District of Massachusetts (with Discussion)," by Alfred O. Doane, Carleton E. Davis, Charles R. Henderson, R. B. Howell and J. N. Chester, Journal of the American Water Works Association 4(4):504-516 (December, 1917) | also here |
1932 "The Boston Water Supply," by Frank A. McInnes, Journal of the New England Water Works Association 46(1):8-23 (March, 1932)
1935 "Quabbin Reservoir Work Now in Full Swing," by Karl R. Kennison, Assistant Chief Engineer, Metropolitan District Commission, Boston, Mass., Water Works Engineering, 88:1062-1064. (September 18, 1935)
1955 "Lemuel Shattuck and the Boston Water Supply," by John Blake, Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 29(6):554-562 (November/December 1955)
1956 Water for the Cities: A History of the Urban Water Supply Problem in the United States, by Nelson Manfred Blake. Pages 64 to 67 include a good history of the Boston Aqueduct Company.
1962 "Boston," from Public Water Supplies of the 100 Largest Cities in the United States, 1962, US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1812, by Charles Norman Durfor and Edith Becker
1971 The reminiscences of John B. Jervis, engineer of the Old Croton. Edited, with introduction, by Neal Fitzsimons. Foreword by Robert Vogel.
1981 The water and sewer works of the city of Boston 1630-1978, by Neil J. Savage.
1983 Great waters: a history of Boston's water supply by Fern L. Nesson. This book is primarily about the later water systems in Boston, but the author's first footnote on page 87 states that: "The Aqueduct Corporation's system was built by Loammi Baldwin, Sr., father of Loammi Baldwin." Her cited reference, however, only mentions Baldwin Senior's work on the Middlesex Canal with no mention the Boston Aqueduct. Baldwin Senior (1744-1807) worked with James Sullivan (first president of the Aqueduct Corporation and later Governor of Massachusetts) on the Middlesex Canal and was one of the initial directors of the Aqueduct Corporation, but no evidence has been found to suggest that he did any engineering or construction work for the Aqueduct Corporation. This error has found its way into later histories of Boston's water supply. Baldwin Senior is considered by some to be the Father of American Civil Engineering. His son Laommi Baldwin (1780-1838) prepared a report for the Boston Aqueduct Corporation in 1834 and promoted the development of the Cochituate Aqueduct, which was built after his death. Father and son both held the rank of Colonel, which add to the confusion.
2001 Water For Greater Boston, by Dr. William P. Marchione. Construction of Chestnut Hill Reservoir after 1859 aqueduct break
2004 "The Nature of Water: Reform and the Antebellum Crusade for Municipal Water in Boston," by Michael Rawson, Environmental History, 9(3):411-435 (July, 2004) | Also here |
2011 History Flows On, Part I, From Dave Brigham:
2013 City Water, City Life: Water and the Infrastructure of Ideas in Urbanizing Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago, by Carl Smith
1837 - 1922 Documents of the City of Boston.
2024 Water for Boston, Part 1, Hub History
Water
Supply Books from the Boston Public Library on archive.org
Documents
of the city of Boston. Volume 1838. Boston, n.d.
742pp.
Documents of the city of Boston. Volume 1843. Boston, n.d. 672pp.
Calf Pasture Pumping Station Complex
Histories of the Calf Pasture Pumping Station
© 2018-2024 Morris A. Pierce