Documentary History of American Water-works

Norway

Norway, Maine

Norway was settled in the 1780s and the Norway Village Corporation was formed in 1850.

A newspaper article in 1869 mentions that the Norway Aqueduct Company "is about commencing laying a new aqueduct." No other information about this company or system has been found, and it is not known if this replaced an old aqueduct or was completely new.

The Norway Water Company was incorporated in 1885 and built a gravity system. The company was controlled by the National Water Works Syndicate that had been established by Benjamin Cushing Mudge, who was the agent for H.R. Worthington in Boston. He developed, built, and owned several water works in New England before becoming insolvent in 1891.

The Norway Water District was incorporated in 1941 and bought the Norway Water Company.

Water in Norway is supplied by the Norway Water District.

References
1869 Daily Eastern Argus (Portland, Maine), August 5, 1869, Page 3.
The Norway Aqueduct Company is about commencing laying a new aqueduct. The cost will be some ten or twelve hundred dollars.

1885 An act to supply the people of Norway Village Corporation and vicinity with pure water. January 31, 1885.

1886 Engineering News 15:62 (January 23, 1886)
The Norway Water Supply Company, Norway, Me., have closed a contract with Henry R. Worthington, of Boston, and it is expected the new works will all be complete by next fall. The water is to be forced into a reservoir on Pike's Hill.

1886 Centennial history of Norway, Oxford County, Maine, 1786-1886, by William Berry Lapham
Page 397: Water Works. One of the more important improvements in the Village, and a much needed one, is the Water Works. A stock company was organized for this purpose and a majority of the stock is held by the citizens of Norway, giving them a controlling interest. The contract for the construction of the works was made with H. R. Worthington & Co., of New York, late in the autumn of 1885, and operations were commenced early in the spring of 1886. The terms of the contract provided that the pumping station and reservoir should be constructed, the mains laid, and the hydrants put in by the first day of September. The pumping station is at the foot of the Great Pond and the reservoir on Pike's Hill. Italian help was mostly employed in constructing the works, although preference was given to local workmen. After the
works were well under way, a contract was made with the Village Corporation of South Paris, to extend the main to that place and put in a certain number of hydrants for the use of that Village. The works have been completed and give good satisfaction.

1888 "Norway and South Paris," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1890 "Norway and South Paris," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.

1891 "Norway and South Paris," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.

1897 "Norway and South Paris," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.

1904 "Norway Water Company," Portland Board of Trade Journal 17(6):298 (October, 1904)

1941 An act to incorporate the Norway Water District. April 4, 1941.

1943 Norway Water District v. Water Company, 139 Me. 311, 30 A.2d 601, February 23, 1943, Supreme Judicial Court of Maine

Digital Commons @ UMaine, many annual reports for municipalities.