| Introduction | Historical Background | Chronology | Geography | Biography | Technology | Ownership and Financing | General Bibliography |
| Southwestern
States |
Missouri | St. Joseph |
St. Joseph was incorporated as a city in 1851.
The Saint Joseph Water Company was incorporated December 9, 1879 and built a system that began service in December 1880
The company was bought by the American Water Works and Guarantee Company in April, 1890.
Water is provided by Missouri American Water.
References
1869 "The Holly Water
Works," The St. Joseph Gazette, May 9, 1869, Page 1. | Part
2 |
Report of Mr. Pillsbury, the Engineer, May 8, 1869.
1873 "Water
Works," The St. Joseph Gazette, April 30, 1873, Page 4.
The Proposition Submitted by the National Water Works Company. A. C.
Davis, President.
1873 "Water
Works: Proposition submitted to the City Council," The St.
Joseph Gazette, November 6, 1873, Page 4.
National Water Works Company.
1873 "The
Water Works Question," The St. Joseph Gazette, November 8,
1873, Page 2.
To-day, Mr. Mahan estimates the cost at $800,000.
1873 "The National Water Works," The St. Joseph Gazette, December 10, 1873, Page 4.
1875 "The
Troubled Waters," The St. Joseph Gazette, April 10, 1875,
Page 4.
Mr. F. M. Mahan,the builder of the Kansas City water works, was in the
city yesterday, and was interviewed by our city officials and a large
number of our citizens in regard to the Holly system and water works in
general. He has examined maps of the city, and taken elevations,
with view to a- further investigation when be again returns, as he expects
to in about ten days, accompanied by his engineer. Mr. Mahan is
President of the National Water Works Company, and should be a man
competent to give a rational and practical opinion on the vexed water work
question.
1875 An act to amend the charter of the City of St. Joseph, and supplementary thereto; to provide for said city a supply of wholesome water, and for other municipal purposes. February 27, 1875.
1875 The Holly Manufacturing Company to pay $2,000 to F.M. Mahan for securing water works in St. Joseph, Mo. Agent R. Bickford. Entry dated June 22, 1875, Minute Book of the Holly Manufacturing Company, Page 538.
1875 "A
Glimpse of the Water Works Report," The St Joseph Gazette,
July 7, 1875, Page 3.
Proposals received from the National Water Works Company and the Holly
Manufacturing Company.
1879 "Waterworks
Propositions," The St. Joseph Weekly Gazette, September 11,
1879, Page 1.
Holly Manufacturing Company; George H. Norman; St. Joseph Water Company.
1879 "An ordinance, for the erection, construction and maintenance of water works in the city of St. Joseph, Missouri, and to regulate the same," St. Joseph Gazette, December 11, 1879, Page 3.
1881 The
History of Buchanan County, Missouri
Pages 596-600: WATER WORKS.
One of the chief needs of St. Joseph for more than ten years past has been
a complete and perfect system of water works, to be employed both as a
safeguard against fire and as a means of averting the possibilities of a
deficient supply in seasons of drought.
But it was not until the 10th day of December, 1879, that anything was
actually accomplished in that direction, at which date the Mayor approved
an ordinance passed by the City Council authorizing the construction of
water works upon the "gravity system," the supply to be obtained from the
Missouri River, above the city limits.
On December 23d, 1879, the contract was let to the St. Joseph Water
Company, under bond to complete the works and furnish a full supply of
pure, wholesome water within twelve months from that date.
This company commenced work on the 4th day of January, 1880, and upon the
12th day of January, 1881, the works were accepted as perfectly
satisfactory by the city authorities. In order that our citizens and
others may know something of the character and extent of the works, a
brief description is here given :
Three miles up the Missouri River, the Water Company purchased one hundred
acres of land, where they have since erected their engine and reservoirs,
and it is from that point the city is supplied with water.
Few people have an idea of the immense amount of labor and material it
requires to supply a city like St. Joseph with water works. The Water
Company was fortunate in procuring the one hundred acres of land upon
which the works have been erected. At the foot of the hill, on the ground
mentioned, the great engine house stands, and upon the top of the same
hill the splendid reservoirs are to be found. A few hundred feet from the
engine house the water is procured from the Missouri River, and the
company went to a heavy expense for the purpose of procuring river
protection and a constant channel from which to procure at all times the
purest water possible. About thirty thousand dollars were spent in this
manner, the company well knowing that in order to make the water works of
great value to the city, measures should be taken to guard against such a
disaster as would result in an insufficient supply of water. All along the
banks near the works the ground has been covered with brush and rock,
making it perfectly solid, and a piling runs out to the main channel about
thirty feet in length. A 24-inch pipe runs from the end of this piling to
the engine house and through this pipe the water is forced by the engine
into the pipes running along the hill to the reservoirs above.
The building, in which is situated the engine for forcing the water into
the reservoirs, is forty feet wide by eighty feet long, and is divided
into two compartments. The north compartment is used as a boiler room and
in it are placed three boilers, which contain fifty-nine 4-inch flues.
These boilers are sixteen feet long, and sixty-four inches in diameter.
The southern portion of the room contains the engineer's room and the
engines have been located therein. They have, besides the large one, a
small engine set up which is capable of throwing one million gallons of
water into the reservoirs every twenty-four hours. The large engine is
capable of throwing four million gallons every twenty-four hours. These
engines are from R. H. Worthington, of New York, and are built upon the
horizontal plan. If one of them gets out of order the other can be put
into use, thereby preventing the supply of water from giving out on
account of accident. On the west of the engine is the smoke stack, which
is one hundred feet high, sixteen feet in diameter at the base and six at
the top.
The reservoirs are situated upon the hill above. It cost the company
$7,000 to make a road from the foot to the top of this hill, and the
reader can, consequently, judge how rough it is down this elevation. An
immense amount of work has been expended upon these reservoirs. The great
basins are supplied with water by the engines below, the water being first
forced into a well west of the elevation, and after that it runs through
pipes into the reservoirs, of which there are three. The settling basin is
380 feet long by 85 feet wide, and its capacity is three million gallons.
Its depth is twenty feet, and its water level is two feet higher than the
reservoir on the south. The company proposes to keep seventeen feet of
water in this department all the time. At the east end there is an
overflow pipe from which water can escape. The largest basin of them all
is that on the south side, which is 210 feet wide by 300 feet long. Its
full capacity is eight million gallons, and the idea is to keep at least
fifteen feet of clear or filtered water in this reservoir all the time.
Situated at a point midway between the settling basin and the south basin
is the affluent well, and the water flows through a twenty-inch pipe and
into the same. There is a strainer of copper at the end of this pipe,
having five thousand little holes, which prevents the water from getting
anything into it that might succeed in reaching the basins. The city
receives its water directly from the affluent well mentioned. It is run
through a twenty-inch pipe, which is laid under the ground all the way
between the city and the reservoirs, three miles distant. The north basin,
which is also intended for the filtered water, is 150 feet wide and 300
feet long, and has a capacity of six millions of gallons. Although partly
dug out, this basin will not be put in operation for the present.
The company has laid a layer of gumbo one foot and a half thick all over
the bottom and sides of the basins. Over the gumbo is placed a layer of
brick, with the crevices filled up with cement.
If at any time it should be required to empty these basins there is
certain machinery on hand that can be placed at work immediately and the
old water can be replaced by that which is fresh and pure.
It is hardly probable that all the basins will ever get out of order at
the same time. Should they do so, however, the company still has a way to
supply the city with water. There is direct connection between the
affluent and influent wells and the water is supplied to the city by
opening the valves. If such an accident should happen, the company will
not warrant the water to be pure, because it cannot go through the
purifying process in the settling basins. At all other times, the water is
warranted clear and pure.
Waste pipes are attached to the reservoirs for draining purposes, which
can be readily used at any time.
Reservoir Hill is 330 feet above high water mark, and it is 122 feet
higher than any point in St. Joseph. In the business portion of the city
the pressure has been, since the works were in operation, 120 pounds to
the square inch.
In testing the capacity of the street hydrants it has been demonstrated
that in the business portion of the city a stream can be thrown through
hose, with a proper nozzle attached, to the height of about 110 feet,
while at the corner of Nineteenth and Francis Streets, one of the highest
points within the eastern corporate limits, a distance of 65 feet has been
shown to be the extreme limit of elevation. From the above facts it will
be seen that in a majority of cases the hydrants can be utilized in place
of steam fire engines now used in connection with the fire department,
thus proving a source of economy as well as safety to every citizen.
At first the contract only called for sixteen miles of piping, and 240
fire hydrants, but it has been necessary since then to increase the number
of miles from sixteen to twenty-six.
At the present writing, something over twenty miles of main pipe has been
laid in place and one hundred and eighty-two hydrants placed at proper
locations and in working order. At the junction of the principal streets,
and at other suitable points, stop gates or valves have been inserted in
the water mains for shutting off the water in cases of necessity or
convenience from any of the lines of pipe.
The large supply pipe enters the city at the corner of Third and Middleton
Streets, and from there a sixteen-inch pipe runs to Sixth Street, and a
twelve-inch pipe to Third. From these points the pipes run in every
direction, making the water course every way during day and night.
Anticipating that South St. Joseph is likely to become an important
manufacturing point, the water company has run pipes all through that
section of the city.
The preparation for drainage in the city are complete. The company has
already placed a number of pipes in the lowest parts of the city for that
purpose. These pipes are to be kept perfectly clean all the time, so the
people can have fresh and pure water constantly.
The works were to cost at first, $300,000, but the company kept adding to
the original estimate until the works complete have cost $700,000, instead
of amount first estimated.
In building the works, the company took into consideration the fact that
St. Joseph is likely to grow much larger in the near future, and ample
arrangements have been made to supply a city of several times the size of
St. Joseph, if it becomes necessary, and it is believed that the time is
not very far in the future when the company will have occasion to test the
capacity of their works to the utmost extent.
The popularity of the works is evidenced by the fact that nearly two
hundred and fifty applications have been made since their completion for
water supply for private residences, stores, hotels, factories, mills,
etc.
This even exceeds the most sanguine expectations of the company and is a
gratifying assurance of liberal patronage in the near future.
The officers of the company are : W. Scott Fitz, President ; T. J. Chew,
Jr., Secretary ; J. W. Rutherfoord, Chief Engineer ; H. F. Juengst, Ass't
Engineer ; Theo. W. Davis, Superintendent of the Works. The company keeps
from thirty-five to forty hands constantly employed.
The building of such immense water works is an undertaking that requires
great engineering and mechanical skill, and Major Rutherfoord has
demonstrated his capacity as an engineer by so successfully completing the
work.
Such is the description of the St. Joseph water works, which are destined
to be of so much value and pleasure to the people of St. Joseph, and which
constitute one of the grandest enterprises that have been completed in the
city in 1880.
1882 St. Joseph, Engineering News, 9:399-400 (November 18, 1882)
1882 St. Joseph from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1888 "St. Joseph," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1890 "Water
Works Sold," The St. Joseph News-Press, April 25, 1890, Page
1.
Transferred all their right, title and interest in the St. Joseph water
works to the American Water Works Guarantee Company of Pittsburg, Pa.
1890 "St. Joseph," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "St. Joseph," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1895 "Special Ordinance No. 1813," The St. Joseph Herald, March 1, 1895, Page 7.
1897 "St. Joseph," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1900 The
daily news' history of Buchanan County and St. Joseph, Mo. : from the
time of the Platte purchase to the end of the year 1898 : preceded by
a short history of Missouri : supplemented by biographical sketches of
noted citizens, living and dead, by Christian Ludwig Rutt
Page 141-143: In 1875 an unsuccessful effort was made to secure a public
water system for St. Joseph. The matter was not permitted to slumber,
however, and the close of 1879 saw the project well under way to success.
On December 1, 1879, the council passed an ordinance agreeing to contract
with W. S. Fitz, John W. Rutherford and their associates for waterworks,
when these men had formed a corporation to build such works. The sum of
$5,000 was deposited with the city treasurer as a guarantee that this
company would be formed and incorporated within ten days.
On December 10, 1879, the council passed an ordinance granting the St.
Joseph Water Company the right to construct works on the reservoir
gravitation plan, to lay mains, etc. The city reserved the right, at its
option, at the expiration of ten years from the date of the approval of
the ordinance, to purchase the waterworks, including all pipes,
attachments, extensions, franchises, etc., upon giving six months’
previous notice in writing ; the city and water company each to appoint a
person and the two to select a third to appraise the property. The city
contracted for one hundred and sixty hydrants for a period of twenty
years, the company agreeing to place ten additional hydrants for every
mile of pipe to be laid in the future extension of the service. This
contract was, as provided for in the ordinance, ratified by the people at
a special election, held on December 23, 1879, and only four votes were
cast in the negative.
The water company was organized as follows : W. Scott Fitz, president; T.
J. Chew, Jr., secretary; J. W. Rutherford, chief engineer. The company
agreed to have sixteen miles of pipe laid and the system in operation in
one year. One hundred acres of land, some miles north of the city, were
purchased and work was begun on January 4, 1880. There was but one
reservoir at first, located on a hill 320 feet above the river at low
water mark, and 112 feet higher than any point in St. Joseph. The pumping
station was located at the river. The original cost of the works was
estimated at $300,000, but before they were offered for acceptance the
company had . expended $700,000.
On January 12, 1881, the works were accepted by the mayor and council, and
placed into active service. Theodore W. Davis was the first superintendent
and was succeeded by Louis C. Burnes, who served until the spring of 1897,
when he was succeeded by Charles H. Taylor, the present superintendent. In
October of 1889 the stock and franchise of the company were sold to the
American Waterworks and Guarantee Company of Pittsburg, Pa., a combination
of capitalists owning and controlling the water systems of thirty-one
other cities. The stockholders at the time of the sale were Col. James N.
Burnes, Calvin F. Burnes, T. J. Chew, Jr., and William M. Wyeth.
The system has grown and expanded materially since the beginning. The
water is pumped from the river, through filters, to the reservoir on the
hill, and thence it flows to the city through pipes.
The pumping plant consists of two Worthington pumps, each of three million
gallon capacity in twenty-four hours ; one Gaskill high duty pumping
engine, of six million gallons capacity in twenty-four hours; one Cope
& Maxwell engine of one million gallons capacity in twenty-four hours.
A slow-service engine, of eight million gallons capacity, lifts the water
to the filter plant, which is located at the pumping station, and which
consists of fifteen O. A. H. Jewell filtering tanks, each fifteen feet in
height and twelve feet in diameter. The Norberg Manufacturing Company, of
Milwaukee, is under contract to build a high-duty pump of eight million
gallons' capacity, to be delivered February 15, 1899. The steam plant
consists of four Heine water-tube boilers, of a combined force of eight
hundred-horse power.
There are two suction pipes to the river, one thirty-six inches in
diameter and the other twenty-four inches in diameter ; there are two
force mains from the pumping station to the reservoirs and two twenty-inch
supply mains from the reservoirs to the city. There are now three ;
e«eivoirs, with a combined capacity of about seventeen million gallons.
There are now more than eighty-one miles of pipe, the service to the
stockyards having just been completed, and there are 501 double-nozzle
hydrants on the streets for fire protection.
The period of the city’s contract with the water company will expire in
December of 1899, and negotiations are now in progress for a renewal
thereof. The fact that no agreement has been reached after nearly two
years of negotiating, and the fact also that the city has solicited bids
from other parties to build water works, leaves it to the compiler of the
next history to chronicle the final solution of a problem in which the
public is greatly interested.
Page 597: THE WATER COMPANY— The history of the St. Joseph
Waterworks is fully told on page 140. The system has grown and expanded
materially since the beginning. The water is pumped from the river,
through filters, to the reservoir on the hill, and thence it flows to the
city through pipes. The pumping plant consists of two Worthington pumps,
each of three million gallon capacity in twenty-four hours; one Gaskill
high duty pumping engine, of six million gallons capacity in twenty-four
house; one Cope & Maxwell engine of one million gallons capacity in
twenty-four hours. A slow-service engine, of eight million gallons
capacity, lifts the water to the filter plant, which is located at the
pumping station, and which consists of fifteen O. A. H. Jewell filtering
tanks, each fifteen feet in height and twelve feet in diameter. There are
now three reservoirs, with a combined capacity of 17 million gallons.
There are now more than eighty-one miles of pipe, the service to the
stockyards having just been completed, and there are 501 double-nozzle
hydrants on the streets for fire protection. Mr. Charles H. Taylor, the
superintendent has shown himself a capable manager and has made many
friends among the people of St. Joseph.
© 2020-2022 Morris A. Pierce