| Introduction | Historical Background | Chronology | Geography | Biography | Technology | Ownership and Financing | General Bibliography |
| New England States | Maine | Rockland |
Rockland was first settled abut 1769.
The Rockland Water Company was incorporated in 1850 by Knott Crockett, Henry O. Lowell, Charles Holmes, Nathan A. Farwell, James O. L. Foster, John T. Berry, Rufus T. Slocomb, Ephraim Hall, Hiram E. Berry, Larkin Snow, Joseph Hewett, Charles Crockett, Sela E. Dennis, John G. Lovejoy, John Wakefield, Alfred H. Kimball, Charles A. Macomber, Francis Cobb, Ephraim Barret and Benjamin N. Lothrop "for the purpose of conveying to the village of Rockland, a supply of pure water for domestic purposes, including a sufficient quantity for the extinguishment of fires and the supply of the shipping in the harbor of Rockland." This company built a gravity system that began service in November, 1851 using cement-lined wrought-iron pipe manufactured by J. Ball & Co., which took $4000 of the company stock as partial payment. A Holly water-driven pump was added in 1869 that allowed water to be pumped directly into the mains.
The Artesian Water Company was incorporated in 1880 by Davis Tillson, Amos F. Crockett, Thomas W. Hix, Jr., Michael A. Achorn, William S. White. George W. Kimball, Jr., and William H. Glover "for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of the city of Rockland and adjoining towns with pure water for domestic and municipal purposes, the extinguishment of fires, the supply of shipping, and the use of manufactures." The company's name was changed in 1885 to the Camden and Rockland Water Company and the service territory expanded to include Camden, Thomaston, and South Thomaston. This new company obtained a contract from the town of Camden and constructed a system, but the Rockland Water Company filed suit against them for infringing on their franchise rights. The court decided against them, ruling that their franchise was not exclusive. The two companies merged in 1895.
The Consumers Water Company purchased the Camden and Rockland Water Company in 1959. In 1993, it merged into two other existing water companies in Maine to form the Consumers Maine Water Company. Philadelphia Suburban Corporation bought the Consumers Water Company in 1999, and Consumers Maine was renamed Aqua Maine. This company was sold to Connecticut Water Service Inc, in 2012 and renamed Maine Water.
Water is provided by Maine Water.
References
1850 An act to supply the people of Rockland
with pure water. August 20, 1850.
1861 An act additional to and amendatory of an act to supply the people of Rockland with pure water, passed August twenty-second, eighteen hundred and fifty. March 14, 1861.
1865 History
of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine: From Their First
Exploration, A. D. 1605; with Family Genealogies, Volume 2, by
Cyrus Eaton
Pages 6-7: The Rockland Water Company was created by an Act passed August
20, 1850, with power to construct an aqueduct from Chikawauka Lake into
and through the village of Rockland, to regulate the use; distribution,
and prices of said water, and to hold real and personal estate not
exceeding $75,000; on condition, however,'that at the end of ten years, on
the refunding all the expenditures and ten per cent. in addition, the
town, at its option, was to have the right to take and control all the
property and privileges, of said corporation. A preliminary survey by R.
T. Slocomb, and estimate of cost was made; and the subscriptions to the
stock, by exertions of Jere. Berry, and others, soon amounted to within
$4000 of the sum required. This balance was taken by the New York firm of
Ball & Co., in part payment for a supply of their newly invented
Indestructible Water-pipe, of which it was computed that 30,898 feet would
be required, from one to nine inches bore. The company was, in February,
1851, duly organized by choice of I. K. Kimball, president, C. Holmes,
treasurer, and C. L. Lowell, clerk. Mr. Ball contracted to excavate the
trenches,-six miles, for $4000, and, all over that distance, for $1 a rod.
This was completed, and the Chikawauka water reached the city, through its
subterranean channel, by the middle of November. The $30,000 stock being
thus expended, a further subscription of $10,000 was obtained; and, in
October, 1852, the directors reported that 14 miles of pipe had been laid,
225 rods of which, on account of deep cutting and rock, had been subjected
to an extra expenditure of $5000, that the whole cost amounted to $46,000,
that the number of takers was 400, and rapidly increasing, at $6 per
family, and that, from the first nine month's profits, a dividend of four
per cent. had been declared. McLain's mill at the outlet of the lake was
purchased, and in 1855 rebuilt, at a cost of $10,185; and the whole
expenditure of the company up to 1855, at which time Wm. A. Farnsworth was
president and M. Sumner secretary and treasurer, amounted to $67,411;
capital stock, increased by that year's dividend, $55,000, leaving a debt
of $11,821. Continuing to apply its income to the reduction of the
company's debt, and paying off the dividends by new certificates of stock,
the latter was increased to over $70,00. The stockholders becoming
impatient of slow returns, in the spring of 1857 the rates were raised to
$10 per family. This gave great dissatisfaction, which continued till the
rates were reduced in the following August.
1880 An act to incorporate the Artesian Water Company. February 16, 1880.
1882 Rockland, Engineering News 9:143 (May 6, 1882)
1885 An
Act to amend chapter two hundred and twelve of the private and special
laws of the year eighteen hundred and eighty, entitled "An Act to
incorporate the Artesian
Water Company." March 4, 1885. Name changed to Camden
and and Rockland Water Company and purpose modified to read "for the
purpose of conveying to and supplying the towns of Camden, Thomaston and
South Thomaston, and the city of Rockland, with pure water for domestic
and municipal purposes, the extinguishment of fires, supplying of shipping
and uses of manufactories."
1887 An Act additional to and amendatory of chapter five hundred and twenty-two of the Private and Special Laws of eighteen hundred and eighty-five, relating to the Camden and Rockland Water Company. February 17, 1887.
1888 The
Rockland Water Company, in equity, vs. The Camden and Rockland Water
Company, 80 Me. 544, November 3, 1888, Supreme Judicial Court
of Maine
1888 "Rockland, Camden, and Thomaston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1890 "Rockland, Camden, and Thomaston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Rockland, Candem, and Thomaston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1897 "Rockland, Camden, and Thomaston," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1913 An Act to Amend the Charter of the Camden and Rockland Water Company. March 25, 1913.
2011 "Local
Water Company to be bought," The Courier-Gazette The Rockland
Herald, July 27, 2011.
West Rockport — A Connecticut water company has reached an agreement to
buy the water company that serves most of Knox County. Connecticut
Water Service Inc. announced July 27 that it has reached an agreement to
purchase Aqua Maine Inc.
© 2016 Morris A. Pierce