Documentary History of American Water-works

Auburn

Auburn, Maine

Auburn was incorporated as a city in 1869.

The first water system was built in 1868 by Frank Jordan, Edward A. Little, and Joel Vickery, who distributed water from a spring off Main street through a log pipe line,

The Auburn Aqueduct Company was incorporated in 1869 to expand the system to serve other customers.

The City of Auburn purchased the system in 1893 for $250,000.

The Auburn Water District was incorporated in 1923 and took over the city's water system.

Water in Auburn is currently the Auburn Water District, which has a history page.

References
1869 An act to incorporate the Auburn Aqueduct Company. February 24, 1869.

1871 An act to amend "an act to incorporate the Auburn Aqueduct Company." February 17, 1871.

1873 An act to supply the cities of Lewiston and Auburn with pure water. February 27, 1873.

1874 An act additional to an act establishing the Auburn Aqueduct Company. February 17, 1874.

1875 An act to authorize the Auburn Aqueduct Company to take water from Wilson pond, in Auburn, for domestic purposes and for extinguishing fires. February 12, 1875.

1876 An act to amend an act entitled "an act to supply the cities of Lewiston and Auburn with Pure Water." February 22, 1876.

1879 An act to amend the Charter of the Auburn Aqueduct Company. January 28, 1879.

1882 Auburn, from Engineering News 9:50 (February 11, 1882)

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

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

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

1891 An act to supply the City of Auburn with pure water. February 19, 1891.

1891 The History of Androscoggin County Maine by Georgia Drew Merrill
Pages 647: The Auburn Aqueduct Company is the outgrowth of a little enterprise started years ago by F. M. Jordan. The first reservoir was a spring near Edward Little High School and it was alike reservoir and fountain-head. Wooden pipes were laid to a few houses and the water was used with satisfaction. Later, others desired this supply and the source was changed to Auburn Heights, where abundant springs were found. As Auburn increased in population, more water was needed, and the company changed the source of supply to the brook near the city farm, where a dam was built and water carried by iron pipes. The company purchased the right to enter Lake Auburn from the Franklin Company for $5,000; the charter obtained from the legislature contained a provision that the city could buy the plant in ten years by payment of its cost and 10 per cent, on the investment. The time passed and the city lost its opportunity of purchase. At this time Auburn exempted the company from taxation in consideration of water furnished for fire and other purposes. However the first hydrants for fire purposes were put in by the Aqueduct Company voluntarily; one near Roak Block and another on Court street. A new contract was made in 1883, whereby the company was to enlarge its facilities (among other things to lay a new main to the pumping station on Goff Hill from Turner street, to be 12 inches in diameter, and pass through Turner, Union, and Court streets), and allow the city the use of water at all times. In payment the City of Auburn Water Loan Bonds were issued June 1, 1883, to run 15 years at four per cent., and the contract bound both sides for fifty years. Extensive work and improvements have been done to keep the supply of water adequate to the growth of the city. A 12-inch leading main extends 3,200 feet from Lake Auburn to the poor farm, where it branches into two mains running to the city; one of 12 and another of 10 inches diameter. It is computed from actual tests made by competent engineers in 1888 that by these mains 2,333,000 gallons per day can be delivered to the city. The gravity pressure from the lake is 118 feet at the corner of Court and Main streets, and 71 ½ at the Cushman shoe factory. The pressure from the reservoir at the corner of Court and Main streets is 238 and at the Cushman shoe factory is 191 feet.

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

1893 Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the City of Auburn for the Fiscal Year Ending February 28, 1893
Pages 9-10: City Water

1893 An act relating to the Auburn Aqueduct Company and the City of Auburn. March 24, 1893.

1893 Fire and Water (April 8, 1893)
The deed of the transfer of the property of the Auburn Aqueduct Company to the city of Auburn,.Me., has been placed on file there. The deed is made out to the Auburn Trust Company as trustee. In it the verbiage of the city's recent offer to purchase was closely followed, and it was made in the form of a quit claim, with the Auburn Aqueduct Company as the first party, the Auburn Trust Company as second and the city of Auburn as third party. The consideration mentioned is $213,524.58.

1893 Bangor Daily Whig and Courier, June 1, 1893, Page 1.
The city of Auburn took from the Auburn Aqueduct Company, Saturday afternon, its receipt for $100,000, the same being the amount of the water act, to be paid over within thirty days of the approval of the deed on May 5, conveying the property of the Auburn Aqueduct Company to the city.

1894 Twenty-Fifth Annual Report of the Receipts and Expenditures of the City of Auburn for the Fiscal Year Ending February 28, 1894
Page 5: During the past year, the city has purchased the water works from the Auburn Aqueduct Company. From the report of the water commissioners, I find the following statement of the receipts and expenditures of the water works, between June 7, 1893 (the date of the purchase of the water works) and March 1, 1894.

1894 "The Auburn Water Question," The Lewiston Daily Sun, Jun 8, 1894, Page 6.

1895 James Wood v. City of Auburn, et al., 87 Me. 287, March 13, 1895, Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

1897 City of Auburn v. Union Water Power Co., 90 Me. 576, October 19, 1897, Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

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

1906 "Auburn Waterworks," Fire and Water Engineering 40:548 (September 29, 1906) | also here |

1923 An act to incorporate the Auburn Water District. March 16, 1923.

1968 Auburn, 1869-1969: 100 Years a City, a Study in Community Growth, by Ralph Burgess Skinner, John E. Libby, and Daphne W. Merrill
Pages 46-47: Mayor William W. Bolster, 1893.
Pages 196-202: Public Water Supply.

Digital Commons @ UMaine, many annual reports for municipalities.