Documentary History of American Water-works

Cheshire

Cheshire, Massachusetts

Cheshire was incorporated as a town in 1793.

The Cheshire Water Company was incorporated in 1875 by Richard A. Burget, Felix F. Petitcler and George Martin "for the purpose of supplying the town of Cheshire with pure water." The company built a gravity system that began operating in August,1875.

The town of Cheshire bought the system on December 9, 1970.

Water is provided by the town of Cheshire.

References
1875 An act to incorporate the Cheshire Water Company. March 9, 1875.

1875 "The New Cheshire-Water Works," Springfield Republican, July 27, 1875, Page 6.

1882 Cheshire, from Engineering News 9:419 (December 9, 1882)

1885 History of the Town of Cheshire, Berkshire County, Mass., by Ellen M. Raynor and Emma L. Petitclerc
Pages 174-175: In the beginning of the year 1875 the inhabitants of the village depended wholly upon springs and wells for a supply of water, and during the dry season when some of these failed many families were obliged to go quite a little distance to obtain it for daily use. In case of fire there was little or no protection, and the question of a good water supply began to be strongly agitated. Our enterprising and public spirited fellow townsmen Messrs. R. A. Burget and F. F. Petitclerc proposed that a stock company be formed and the water brought from a mountain brook above the Kitchen, which, fed entirely by Large springs, would furnish pure water in necessary quantity for the whole village. Their first efforts in this direction met with some opposition, and grave doubts were expressed as to the feasibility of obtaining enough water during the dry season to warrant the attempt and expenditure. But persistent effort generally carries the day, and bending every energy to the task, after weeks of argument and urging they convinced the doubting ones of the expediency of the project, and the company was incorporated by act of the legislature under the name of the Cheshire Water Company.
Section first of the charter reads: "Richard A. Burget, Felix F. Petitclerc and George Martin, their associates and successors are made a corporation under the name of the Cheshire Water Company for the purpose of supplying the town of Cheshire with pure water, etc." The above named gentlemen were also chosen directors, and as soon as the weather would allow the work began, and was pushed vigorously until its completion in the early fall gave to our little town an inexhaustible supply of pure water, second to none in the state, with a pressure of 120 pounds to the square inch, thus furnishing effective protection against fire. The pip»;s were all of cast iron and laid below the frost line, so that very little trouble from leakage has arisen. At first the pipes were only laid through that portion of the village west of the railroad, but later they were extended to supply a portion of Scrabbletown, and a few years after a further extension supplied the Tannery grounds with water.

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

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

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

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