From A Short Biography of Engineer Benjamin Prescott
by Kevin Franklin. June 25, 2015
| Introduction | Historical Background | Chronology | Geography | Biography | Technology | Ownership and Financing | General Bibliography |
| Middle Atlantic States | New York | Albany |
Albany was first settled by the Dutch in 1614 and came under the control of the English Crown in 1664, receiving its current name. The Dutch temporarily regained control from 1673 to 1674. The City of Albany was chartered in 1686, the oldest city charter in the Western Hemisphere.
1678 System: The first water supply in Albany was built in 1678 to bring water from a creek near the current state capitol building to public reservoirs through wood pipes installed underground.
In 1779 Captain Thomas Machin surveyed a route for a water conduit from the Five-Mile House on the Schenectady Turnpike to the Public Square in downtown Albany. (1845) William McKown leased this property in April 1786, and in 1793 he purchased purchased a large tract of land along the Kromme Kill (now called Krum-Kill) where he built a new hotel and tavern. The original house was on the east branch of the Krum Kill, which is believed to be the source used for the 1798 water system. McKown constructed his own water system on the west branch of the Krum Kill, with wooden pipes from his system being discovered during work on the McKownville Water Filtration Plant in 1966. (1969)
A large fire swept through Albany on November 17, 1793 that was fought by residents using leather buckets. (1867) On December 31, 1793, the Albany Common Council resolved that "John Jauncey, Dirck Ten Broeck & Jacob J. Lansing be a committee to report to this Board the most Expedient method to Supply this City with water." (1971, 1)
The Common Council advertised for bids in November, 1794 to construct, own, and operate a water works taking water from a spring near the Five-Mile House, which was on the site of the current SUNY Albany Indian Quad. Several bids were received, and they chose the proposal of Benjamin Prescott, who had previously built an aqueduct system in his home town of Northampton, Massachusetts, The City and Prescott signed a contract in September 10, 1795, "to lead the Water in conduits from Mr. McKowns into Albany by the first of November 1797." The City also secured passage of a law that allowed them "by themselves, or by an water engineer or other person to be by them employed," to install conduits and reservoirs.
By August, 1796, Prescott was at work and the City was soliciting bids for "1,980 iron bands" to connect the 23,760 feet of pitch pine that Prescott was providing to deliver water from the Five Mile House water source. In June, 1797, Prescott complained about the log suppliers and asked to substitute white pine, which is assure is suitable. On April 5, 1798, Prescott reported that "The aqueducts are through the following streets [viz] from the Public Square, through State Street 2000 feet, Court Street 1400 feet, Markel & Watervliet Street 2100, Pearl Street 2000 , Washington Street 800, Hudson Street 1000 feet , Pine Street 800 feet, Barrak & Green Street 1500 feet, Dock Street 800 feet , from Barrack Street through Steuben Street to Market Street 700 feet , from Market Street through Columbia and Montgomery Street 900 feet."
Although the aqueduct from the spring at the Five-Mile House appears to have been substantially complete in the summer of 1798, it appears that that source was either insufficient or unsuitable for the desired use, as the prior August Prescott had secured rights to use water from Maezlandt Kill. (1906) In August, 1800, a Baltimore newspaper reported that "The Albany Water-works, progress with rapidity, and it is expected that in a few weeks the principal streets of that city will be supplied with pure water from Maesland Kill."
The Albany Water Works Company was organized in March, 1800. Water rates were adopted at a meeting held in August of that year at the Lewis Inn. The company applied for a charter, which was granted in February 1802 to Stephen Lush, Philip S. Van Rensselaer, and John Tayler, Prescott sold the system to the Albany Water-Works Company in 1802, which operated the system until they sold it to the City of Albany in 1850.
The company installed cast iron pipe in 1813, believed to be the fourth American city to do so after New York City in 1799, Philadelphia in 1801, and Baltimore in 1807.
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| Albany Argus, April 6, 1813, Page 1. | Wood and cast iron pipes from the early Albany water works. From A Short Biography of Engineer Benjamin Prescott by Kevin Franklin. June 25, 2015 |
The Water Works Company built a new reservoir on Eagle Street between Steuben and Columbia Streets in 1849, as shown in these photos. The reservoir was removed in 1875 and replaced by the Albany High School and later by the Albany County Courthouse.
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| View of the New Reservoir of the Albany Water Works Compy and the Albany Burgesses Corps, Taken from the Academy Park, Albany, N.Y | Albany Water Works |
On April 9, 1850, the legislature passed a law that allowed the City to buy the system later that year. The water system was sold to the City of Albany on August 23, 1850 for $150,000.
The city engaged engineer William J. McAlpine to design the new system, which was constructed the following year with a dam on Patroon Creek creating a large reservoir. A pumping station was added in 1875 that delivered water from the Hudson River.
The City of Albany currently supplies water to the community from the Alcove, Basic Creek, and Loudonville Reservoirs.
References
1793 Philadelphia Dunlop's American
Daily Advertiser, July 20, 1793
Albany, July 8. We learn that enterprizing citizens of Hudson raised
1000£ last week, for the purpose of making additional water works, and
bringing the water of a larger flowing spring, nearly three miles, through
pipes, into that city--the spring along cost them 100l. Few places
have worse water, and perhaps none are capable of having better water, by
the same means, than this city, and at a very small expense--especially
should this mode come into general life, as it doubltess would, if once
the great utility of it was made obvious.
1794 Albany
Register, November 17, 1794
In Common Council, held the ninth day of Nov. 1794
Resolved that this board will receive proposals until the first day of
February next from any persons for supplying this city with water from the
spring at the five mile house on the road to Schenectady--which proposals
it is expected will contain--
1st, A plan accurately describing the dimensions & the mode in which
the reservoir is to be constructed at or near the fountain and on the hill
in the public square should it be thought necessary Also the mode in which
the aqueducts from the spring and the reservoir in the public square are
to be conducted through the principal Streets of the city .
2d, The dimensions of the pitch pine timber of which the aqueducts are to
be made. the diameter of the bore that will be thought necessary the mode
of securing the aqueducts at the joints and the depth at which they will
be laid below the surface of the ground
3d, The expense of constructing the reservoir of stone by the square yard
and securing it at the fountain by a proper building over them
4th, The expense by the rod of the aqueducts , calculating the bores at
six, four & three inches diameter
5th, The time at which the work will be completed
6th, The security which the contractor will give for the fulfillment of
this contract--which proposals shall be sealed up and directed to tbe
Mayor of this city.
E. Willet, City Cham [Elbert Willett, City Chamberlain]
1795 Albany Gazette, February 16, 1795 The date for receipt of proposals was extended to May 1, 1795
1794-95 Proposals
received
December 22, 1794 Aaron Buckland of Hartford, Conn
January 29, 1795 Elijah Church from "Jerico on the Susquehanna" [Jericho,
Tioga County, Pennsylvania]
February 28, 1795 James Bolton, proposal to build a pipe boring machine
for £60
March 7, 1795 Robert Smith of Troy
April 8, 1795 James Bradley "being Accustomed to such Imploymint in
Europe"
April 25, 1795 B. Prescott of Northampton, Mass.
June 8, 1795 Joseph Dorr and Jacob Martin [Probably from Hoosick Falls,
New York]
1795 February 11, 1795
Albany Common Council
Resolved that Mr. Graham , Mr. Van Renssellaer & Mr. Henry be a
Committee to confer with such persons as may have any Estates in the
Ground thro which the conduits for leading the water into this City will
probably run or in which the fountains May be, from whence the water is to
be brought & that they report the most Expedient mode of obtaining a
right to lead the water from such fountains & the conduits thro' such
grounds with free ingress and egress to make all necessary repairs.
1795 June 30, 1795 Albany
Common Council (cost estimate)
1795 Aug. 12, 1795 Letter
to Benjamin Prescott from the Mayor, Alderman, and Common Council of the
City of Albany
Sir In conformity to the enclosed resolutions of the Mayor, Alderman &
Commonality of the City of Albany I inform you that they have accepted
your proposals relative to the construction of the water works in this
city and I request that you will attend at as early a day as you
conveniently can with sufficient securities to complete the contract
relative to these works.
1795 Albany
Register, August 21, 1795, pages 2-3
Very long and detailed article from a local citizen about the proposed
water works.
1795 September. 10, 1795
Albany Common Council, Articles of Agreement between between Benjamin
Prescott of Northampton, Obadiah Dickenson of Northfield, Caleb Lyman of
Northfield and Samuel Dexter of Albany and the Mayor, Alderman and
commonality of the City of Albany
1796 An act to enable the corporation of the city of Albany, to supply the said city with water by means of conduits, March 9, 1796
1796 Journal
of a Tour from Boston to Oneida, June, 1796, by Jeremy
Belknap. (1882)
Page 29: Friday, July 1. Stopped at McKean's, five miles from
Albany, where we saw the spring-head of the projected aqueduct for the
city. The water is very pure and cool, and there seems to be a good
supply.
1797 The
American Gazetteer, by Jedidah Morse.
[n. p.] Albany. Excellent water (an article in which this city has
hitherto been extremely deficient, having been obliged to use the dirty
water of the river, is about to be conduced into the various parts of the
city, from a fine spring 5 miles west of the city.
1797 Stockbridge
(Mass) Western Star, September 11, 1797, page 4
Wanted 15 good Labourers, at the Waterworks, in Albany, for two or three
months, to whom generous wages will be given. Eldad F.
Goodwin. Albany, Aug. 21 1797.
1799 An indenture between Benjamin Prescott and Albany dated April 16, 1799 to “draw off and take out of, and from a certain brook or stream of water running near to and south of the dwelling house now occupied by Bigelow & Bartlett in the said Town of Watervliet – commonly known and distinguished by the name of Maes Landte Kill so much of the water of said brook as can be conveyed through a line of conducts [sic] – through which the said conduits shall or may be laid with pure and wholesome water and for no other purpose whatsoever.”
1800 Albany
Gazette, March 13, 1800, Page 3
At a meeting of the Subscribers to the Company associated with Benjamin
Prescot, Esq. of Northampton, for supplying this city with Pure and
Wholesome WATER, by CONDUITS, held at the City Hall, on Tuesday last, the
following Gentlemen were elected TRUSTEES--
John Lansing,
Jun.
Stephen Lush
Philip S.
Van Rensselaer
John Tayler
Jeremiah
Van Rensselaer
1800 Visit
to the Falls of Niagara in 1800, by John Maude (1826)
Page 28: Tuesday, July 1st. Morse, in 1797, speaks of the
extreme deficiency of good Water in Albany, and that the Inhabitants were
about to introduce water from a fine spring five miles west of the
City. This fine spring water is yet without the gates of the City,
where, on the 1st of July, 1800, I saw it playing like a fountain before
the door of the Manor-House of the Patron, his Excellent the Lieutenant
Governor. As for being obliged to use the dirty Water of the River,
I will beg lease to observe to Mr. Morse, that a very great proportion of
the City do not use the river water, which said river water is far from
being dirty; rather remarkable for its purity, being a pleasant wholesome
beverage. Great part of the City is supplied with water from a well
in the main street; but the best water is from a pump to the Westward of
the Episcopal Church; it is a water that my palate cannot find any fault
with, nor my eyes perceive in those animalcules Kalm speaks of; neither
could I discover them in the well water. [The Rensselaer Manor House
was on the route of the conduit from Mazeland Kill to Albany, as shown on
the 1856 map (see below)]
1800 Baltimore
Telegraph and Daily Advertiser, July 23, 1800
The Albany Water-works, progress with rapidity, and it is expected that in
a few weeks the principal streets of that city will be supplied with pure
water from Maesland Kill.
1801 Albany
Centinel, January 16, 1801, page 3
For Sale, a convenient dwelling house, two stories high, with a good
Cellar, situated in Montgomery-street.-- It has aqueduct water in the
Cellar, and is a good stand for a grocery. Enquire of the
printer. Albany, January 16, 1801.
1802 An act to incorporate the Proprietors of the Albany Water-Works, February 17, 1802.
1803 An act to amend the Act, entitled " An Act to incorporate the Proprietors of the Albany Water-Works," March 4th, 1803. The recorder of the City of Albany to be one of the five Trustees.
1813 An Act relative to the Albany Water Works Company, February 12, 1813. Authorized an increase in capital to $80,000.
1813 "Cast Iron Conduits
for the Albany Water Works, Wanted," Albany
Gazette, March 22, 1813, Page 2
Notice is hereby given, That Proposals in
writing will be received by the subscriber, in behalf of the Trustees of
the Albany Water Works, for furnishing, by Contract, One Hundred Tons of
Cast Iron Conduits, of a bore of six inches diameter, three feet in
length, and five eights of an inch thick--The Proposals are to be
accompanied by two pipes as samples of the casting, and must be forwarded
to the subscriber, by the first day of May next, and are to specify the
shortest time time at which the above, or any less quantity of such
conduits, can be delivered at the city of Albany.
By order of the Trustees of the Albany Water Works, Jas. VAN INGEN, Clk
Albany, March 18th, 1813
1813 "Wanted
Immediately," Albany Register, October 8, 1813, Page 4.
Four or five sober, industrious persons, acquainted with boring and laying
conduit logs. The employment will be for years, and very
advantageous to such as are competent in the business. Apply to
Elisha Putnam, No. 73, Pearl-street, Albany. June 24, 1813.
1815 "The Albany Water Works" from The American Magazine, Volume 1
1817 "Albany Water Works," Albany Gazette, May 27, 1817, Page 3.
1818 Albany Gazette,
February 5, 1818, Page 3.
The subscriber having been employed as superintendent in first bringing
water in this city, and in laying and constructing nearly all of the
present works- and having no other means from his own personal labor and
industry, to supply his family- and having been removed from the office of
superintendent as he verify believes, for having dared to oppose the
president's tapping of the main iron conduit pipe for his own private use,
and so controlling and using the water, as habitually for months depriving
many of the citizens of a regular supply of water, and also for having
once been concerned in a rolling and slitting mill- deems it a sufficient
recommendation to offer his services to any individual who may wish to
employ him, to lay or repair his or their lateral conduit pipes, and
therefore humbly solicits the patron of his friend, ELISHA PUTNAM, Sept 5.
1818 Albany
Gazette, September 11, 1818, Page 2.
Letter from Albany Water Works Company President Daniel Hale in response
to Elisha Putnam's letter of September 5.
1819 An act relative to the Albany Water Works, January 15, 1819
1825 An act to incorporate a second Company to supply the City of Albany with Water. April 21, 1825.
1825 A Gazetteer of the State of New York
edited by Horatio Gates Spafford
Page 319: Mill Creek, or Patroon's Creek, a small stream or some 3
or miles in length, which enters the Hudson in the SE. corner of
Watervliet, 1 mile N. of Albany, supplying water power for the Patroon's
Mills, and Caldwell's Factory. It is fed by durable springs, and is
far the more valuable, because mill streams are hereabouts so
scarce. Albany is supplied with water, by an aqueduct from these
hills, traversing this stream.
1831 An act to incorporate a second Company to supply the City of Albany with Water. April 25, 1831.
1835 An act to amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the proprietors of the Albany water works." April 28, 1835.
1838 Sketch of the civil engineering of North
America: comprising remarks on the harbours, river and lake
navigation, lighthouses, steam-navigation, water-works, canals, roads,
railways, bridges, and other works in that country, by
David Stevenson
Page 291: Albany on the Hudson is principally supplied with water procured
in the high ground in the neighbourhood, and conveyed in a six-inch pipe
for a distance of about three miles to a reservoir near the town.
1841 "Supply of Water," Albany Argus, January 1, 1841, Page 2.
1842 Reports to the Committee of the Common Council: on the aqueducts, &c. for supplying the City of Albany with water, from the Mohawk River ; and from the Hudson River, by William McClelland Cushman. January 24, 1842.
1842 "Projected Water Works at Albany, New York," from Journal of the Franklin Institute, Third Series, Volume 3:380-385 (June, 1842)
1842 "Reply to the Notice of the 'Projected Water Works at Albany, New York,' published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute, vol. iii, 3rd series, page 380," by Wm. McClelland Cushamn, C.E., Albany, New York, July 22nd, 1842, from Journal of the Franklin Institute , Third Series, Volume 4:147-151 (September, 1842)
1844 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the proprietors of the Albany Water Works. March 11, 1844.
1844 An act to incorporate the Albany Hydrant Company in the city of Albany. July 12, 1844.
1845 History
of Schoharie County, and Border Wars of New York by Jeptha Root
Simms
Page 576: In May, 1779, Capt. [Thomas] Machin was engaged in taking
a water level between Albany and Schenectady, with a view of supplying the
former city with water. He submitted a plan for this object to the city
corporation, with drawings to show the manner in which an aqueduct and
reservoir should be constructed. Agreeable to his table of levels, a mark
on a post at the watering trough at Bratt's half-way house, was 277 feet 3
53/100 inches above the city hall wharf. The first mile stone out of
Albany was 211 feet 5 25/100 inches below the mark at Bratt's.
1846 Report of the special committee appointed to submit a plan and estimate for supplying the city with water, March 23, 1846, by David Bates Douglass.
1846 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the Albany Hydrant Company in the city Albany," passed April 12, 1844. May 9, 1846.
1849 "Supply of Water," Albany Evening Journal, February 8, 1849, Page 2.
1849 "Water Report by F.S. Claxton, C.E., February 5, 1849," Albany Evening Journal, February 13, 1849, Page 3.
1849 "Water Report, May 14, 1849," Albany Evening Journal, May 17, 1849, Page 2.
1849 "Albany
Water Works," Albany Evening Journal, May 28, 1849, Page 3.
Applications having been made by several persons residing west of the
Parks for permission to draw water from the Eagle street reservoir, this
company gives notice that they have caused a penstock to be erected near
the reservoir in Steuben street, of a sufficient height to discharge the
water directly int a cask or other vessel upon a dart; and that a person
will be in attendance at the penstock every morning to 7 to 9 o'clock, to
deliver water to any person who may then apply for it. To be
furnished at 6 cents a hogshead, payable at the time of taking it.
Albany, May 23, 1849. O. Meads, Treasurer.
1850 View of the New Reservoir of the Albany Water Works Company and the Albany Burgesses Corps
1850 An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Albany. April 9, 1850.
1850 Report made to the water commissioners of the city of Albany, August 1, 1850, on the proposed projects for supplying the city with water by William J. McAlpine
1850 Report of the water commissioners to the Hon. the Mayor and Common Council of the city of Albany relative to supplying the city with water, September 20th, 1850.
1851 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Albany," passed April 9, 1850. April 17, 1851.
1851 "Contracts on the Water Works," Albany Evening Journal, September 3, 1851, Page 1. From the Water Commissioners and William J. McAlpine.
1851 "The New Water Works," Albany Evening Journal, October 6, 1851, Page 2.
1851 "Report of the Water Committee of the Common Council, October 6, 1851," Albany Evening Journal, October 10, 1851, Page 1.
1851 "The Water Works Contracts," Albany Evening Journal, October 10, 1851, Page 2. This editorial likely is the cause of McAlpine's suit against Mr. Ten Eyck
1851 The
Buffalo Commercial, October 16, 1851, Page 2.
Wm. J. McAlpine, Esq. has commenced a libel suit against Mr. Ten Eyck, one
of the proprietors of the Evening Journal, for a statement in reference to
the Albany Water Works signed by Mr. T.E. and published in that paper.
1851 "John C. Spencer's Manifesto and George Wood's Reply," The Evening Post (New York, New York) November 3, 1851, Page 2.
1851 "Letter from John C. Spencer," The New York Times, November 4, 1851, Page 2.
1852 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Albany, and to make a loan therefor," passed April 9, 1850. February 19, 1852.
1852 An act to enable the trustees and company of the Albany water works, to close their corporate business. March 19, 1852.
1852 Albany
Evening Journal, March 25, 1852, Page 3.
New York State Plumbing Establishment The subscriber, Proprietress
and Licensed Plumber to the Albany Water Works. Julia Ridgway.
1852 Reports
of the water commissioners to the common council of the city of Albany,
transmitting the reports of the chief engineer and he superintendent of
the water works.
1853 Annual Report of the Board of Water
Commissioner of the City of Detroit. In 1853, the new Board
of Water Commissioners of the City of Detroit sent superintendent Jacob
Houghton, Jr. to visit and report on water works in other cities,
including Albany.
Pages 22-23: Albany - The city of Albany is supplied with water from
"Patroon's" Creek, across which, about six miles from the Hudson river, an
embankment of earth, forty feet in height, has been built: thus forming a
retentive reservoir, called Rensselaer Lake, covering an area of thirty
acres, and containing about 160,000,000 gallons of water. From thence the
water is conducted by gravitation through a brick aqueduct, about four
miles in length, to Bleecker reservoir, from whence it is distributed in
the usual manner. A further supply is delivered to the lower part of the
city, through iron pipes, laid directly from Watervliet Lake. This
artificial lake is on the same stream with, and about four miles below
Rensselaer Lake, and was formed by constructing a dam twenty-five feet in
height, across the stream. It overflows about twenty acres, and'contains
thirty millions of gallons.
These works are capable of delivering ten millions of gallons daily, and
have cost about $800,000.
Population of the city about sixty thousand.
1854 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Albany," passed April 9, 1850. April 25, 1854.
1854 Report of the Water Commissioners, to the Common Council of the City of Albany, transmitting the report of the superintendent of the Water-Works.
1854 Map of Albany County by Jay Gould. This map shows "conducts" [conduits] from Rensselaer Lake northeast of the City and from the Maezlandt Kill to the north. Rensselaer Lake was a reservoir formed by a dam installed on Patroon Creek in 1851.
1857 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Albany, and to make a loan therefor" passed April 9, 1850. January 28, 1857.
1857 An act authorizing the city of Albany to supply a portion of the town of Watervliet with water. April 6, 1857.
1859 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Albany," passed April ninth, eighteen hundred and fifty, and also to amend the acts amendatory of said act. April 8, 1859.
1861 Report of the Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the City of Albany for the Year 1861.
1864 Report of the Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the City of Albany for the Year 1864.
1865 Report of the Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the City of Albany for the Year 1865.
1866 Report of the Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the City of Albany for the Year 1866.
1867 Report of the Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the City of Albany for the Year 1867.
1867 "The Conflagration of 1793," Collections on the history of Albany - Volume 2, by Joel Munsell
1868 An act to provide for an additional supply of water in the city of Albany. March 20, 1868
1871 An act to amend the act entitled "An act to provide for a supply of water in the city of Albany," passed April ninth, eighteen hundred and fifty. February 6, 1871.
1872 Report on the Waters of the Hudson River: Together with an Analysis of the Same : Made to the Water Commissioners of the City of Albany, by Charles Frederick Chandler
1873 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to provide for an additional supply of water in the city of Albany," passed March twenty, eighteen hundred and sixty-eight. April 29, 1873.
1873 The Water Supply of the City of Albany, by Peter Hogan, May 27, 1873.
1875 Report of the Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the City of Albany for the Year 1875.
1880 "Our Water Supply," by Willis G. Tucker, M.D., Albany Medical College, The Medical Annals 1(5):1-4 (October 1880)
1881 "Albany Water Works" from Engineering News, 8:226 (June 4, 1881)
1882 Albany from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1884 An act in addition to and amendatory of the several acts relating to a supply of water in the city of Albany. May 12, 1884
1885 Report on the waters of the Hudson river together with an analysis of the same, made to the Water Commissioners of the city of Albany, by Charles Frederick Chandler, January, 1885
1885 Report of the Board of Water Commissioners of Albany: in relation to the Albany water supply, to the Common Council, February 2, 1885.
1885 Report on the Albany water supply : made to the Board of Health of the City of Albany, by William P. Mason, April 23, 1885.
1886 "Chemical, Biological and Experimental Inquiry Into the Present and Proposed Future Water Supply of the City of Albany," by Albert Ripley Leeds, Journal of the American Chemical Society 7(10):261-282 (December 1, 1885) | also here |
1886 "Statement of Water Commissioners," April 24, 1886, Message of Hon. John Boyd Thacher, Mayor of the City of Albany, to the Common Council, on Tuesday, May 4th, 1886
1886 Bi-centennial
history of Albany. History of the county of Albany, N. Y., from 1609
to 1886. With portraits, biographies and illustrations, by
George Rogers Howell and Jonathan Tenney. Assisted by local writers
Pages 513-515: Water Supply
1888 "Albany" from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1890 "Albany," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Albany," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1892 An act to provide for the appointment of a board of water commissioners for the city of Albany. April 14, 1892.
1891 A
History of the Putnam Family in England and America. Recording the
Ancestry and Descendants of John Putnam of Danvers, Mass., Jan Poutman
of Albany, N. Y., Thomas Putnam of Hartford, Conn, Volume
1, by Eben Putnam
Page 284: Elisha Putnam was tall and spare, of quick intelligence,
inventive genius, independent and positive opinions even to the extent of
voting for his own candidates for presidential electors. By occupation he
was a carpenter, builder, civil engineer, architect and contractor; he
built the first nail mills near Troy, N. Y., two or three churches in
Albany, one or more sections of the Erie canal, part of the Chesapeake and
Ohio canal, laid the first pipes of hollowed wood to supply Albany with
water, and was for many years superintendent of the water works there.
Before completing the first nail works at Troy for the Brinckerhoffs, he
got admission into the only other establishment in the country where a
certain secret process was carried on, disguised as an ignorant countryman
seeking work. In one day he mastered the special machinery, and was able
from memory to set up similar and improved machinery in the mills he was
building.
1897 "Water Supply" from Landmarks of Albany County, New York, by Amasa Junius Parker
1897 Report of the Board of Water Commissioners to the Common Council of the city of Albany recommending that the water supply be filtered and the construction of a sand filtration plant : also the report of Allen Hazen, consulting engineer. February 13, 1897.
1897 "A
Filter Plant Recommended for Albany," Water and Gas Review
7(8):6 (February 1897)
The Meter System Endorsed.
1897 "Albany," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1897 Forty-Seventh Annual Report of the Water Commissioners of the City of Albany for the year ending December 31, 1897
1898 Forty-Eighth Annual Report of the Water Commissioners of the City of Albany for the year ending December 31, 1898.
1899 "The Albany Water Filtration Plant," by Allen Hazen, Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers 25(9):748-799 (1899)
1900 "Filtration Plant for the Albany Water Supply," Scientific American 82(12):177, 182-183 (March 24, 1900)
1900 "The Albany Water Filtration Plant," by Allen Hazen, Transaction of the American Society of Civil Engineers 43:244-352 (June 1900)
1900 Fiftieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1900.
1901 Fifty-First Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1901.
1903 Fifty-Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1903.
1904 Fifty-Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1904.
1905 Fifty-Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1905.
1906 Fifty-Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1906
1906 Albany Chronicles: A History of the City
Arranged Chronologically, from the Earliest Settlement to the Present
Time compiled by Cuyler Reynolds
Page 355: August 1797 Benjamin Prescott endeavors to supply water from
Maezlandt Kill, in logs bored, and is given a grant by Stephen Van
Rensselaer.
Page 386: November 10, 1794 Common Council advertises for proposals
to supply the city with water by an aqueduct from the spring at Five-Mile
House on the Schenectady turnpike.
Page 388: February 17, 1796 Legislative act allowing Albany to
obtain water by conduit.
Page 396: February 2, 1802 Albany Waterworks Company organized,
making use of large trunks of trees bored through the centres with a hole
of about two inches, jointed with iron pipes; capital $40,000: securing
supply from the Maezlandt kill, northwest of the city; Waterworks Company
pays a dividend of 3%, ApriL
Page 393: Picture
of Waterworks Company Reservoir
Page 410: 1811 Reservoir erected behind a high stone wall. Eagle.
Columbia and Steuben streets, opening into iron pipes and deriving supply
from the Maezlandt kill.
Page 464: 1826. Waterworks Company seeking a supply for city by
boring at junction of the Schenectady and Cherry Valley turnpikes, Sept.
15.
Page 512: 1834. John Meads remonstrates on behalf of waterworks
company against opening a square adjacent to contemplated State House on
Eagle St., Oct. 20.
Page 555: 1844 Albany Hydrant Co. formed by John Townsend, John Keyes
Paige and some other; Albany Waterworks Co. increases capital, $40,000 to
$80,000: Hugh Humphrey, for 26 years superintendent of the Water Works
Co., resigns, April 25.
Page 574: Common Council resolves to subscribe $100,000 so soon as
individuals take $150,000 more of the waterworks stock, Jan. 11.
Page 612: 1851. Strike of laborers at work on constructing waterworks,
contractors agreeing to pay 87½ cents for 10 hours, or $1 for 12 hours.
Page 734: 1895 New waterworks pump arrives from Allis & Co.,
Milwaukee, Feb. 15.
Page 768: 1901. George W. Carpenter, one of the city's early engineers,
and in charge of the waterworks half a century previous (b. Albany, May
17, 1811), dies at Fisher's Island, Long Island Sound, Sept. 12.
1907 Fifty-Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1907.
1908 Fifty-Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1908
1909 Fifty-Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the Year Ending September 30, 1909.
1910 Sixtieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the Year Ending September 30, 1910.
1911 Sixty-First Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1911
1912 Sixty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1912
1913 "Typhoid Fever at Albany, N. Y.: An Account of the Recent Outbreak Due to Use of Raw Hudson River Water following Flooding of Filtration Plant," by Theodore Horton Public Health Reports, Vol. 28, No. 21 (May 23, 1913), pp. 987-994
1913 Sixty-Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1913
1914 Sixty-Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1914
1915 Sixty-Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1915
1916 Sixty-Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1916
1917 Sixty-Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1917
1918 Sixty-Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1918
1919 "The Water Works of Albany," by Wallace Greenalch, Commissioner of Public Works, Albany, N. Y. Fire and Water Engineering, 66:678-681 (September 24, 1919)
1919 "The Albany Water-Works a Hundred Years and More Ago," and "Purification-Plant Methods and Results at Albany" from Engineering News, 83:605 (September 25, 1919)
1919 Sixty-Ninth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the Year Ending September 30, 1919.
1919 Report
of the Department of Public Works of the City of Albany for
the year ending October 31, 1919.
Pages 298-308: History and Development of Supplies and Detailed
Description of Water Works
1920 Seventieth Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1920
1922 Annual Report of the Bureau of Water for the year ending September 30, 1922
1923 "Twenty Years of Filtration Practice at Albany," by George E. Wilcomb, Journal of the American Water Works Association 10(1):97-126 (January, 1923)
1935 "New Filtration Plant at Albany, New York," by Ezra B. Whitman, Journal of the American Water Works Association 27(7):822-840 (July 1935)
1948 The
quest for pure water; the history of water purification from the
earliest records to the twentieth century, by Moses
Nelson Baker
Chapter VI, Slow Sand Filtration in the United States and Canada,
contains substantial information on Albany's long struggle for clean
water. | Chapter VI pdf with
references |
1962 "Albany," from Public Water Supplies of the 100 Largest Cities in the United States, 1962, US Geological Survey Water Supply Paper 1812, by Charles Norman Durfor and Edith Becker
1969 "Old Wooden Water Pipes In Fair Exhibit," Altamont Enterprise and Albany County Post, August 8, 1969, page 1
1971 A Documentary History of Early Waterworks and Water Supply Technology in the City of Albany, 1793-1850 by Chester H. Liebs
1977 "Water Works History: A Comparison of Albany, Utica, Syracuse, and Rochester" by Joseph W. Barnes, Rochester History 39(3):1-24 (July 1977)
1985 "From McKown's Tavern To Burger King," Altamont Enterprise, November 14, 1985, page 7
2000 A
Landscape Transformed: The ironmaking district of Salibury,
Connecticut, by Robert B. Gordon | Also
here (subscription required) |
Pages 35-36: Holley and Coffing. They were about to deliver
200 tons of conduit pipe to Albany.
Page 61: In addition to making bar iron, they supplied cast-iron
pipe for Albany's first water system.
2010 "Business
Widows," by Susan Ingalls Lewis, in Women on Their Own:
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Being Single, edited by Rudolph M.
Bell and Viriginia Yans
Pages 125-128: Albany Plumber Julia Ridgway
2013 "Angry Waters: The Great Easter Flood of 1913" New York Archives, Winter 2013. This includes a description of the Albany Water Works in 1913 and how it was affected by the flood.
2014 "Rediscovering Benjamin Prescott (1755-1826) & the Albany Water Works: Soldier, Engineer, Surveyor, Administrator, Entrepreneur, Patriot" From the Colonie Historical Oracle Volume 10, Number 2, April-June 2014 and Volume 10, Number 3, July-September 2014. My thanks to Kevin Franklin, Colonie Town Historian, for permission to post this article on line and providing a wealth of other information about early water works in the area.
2015 A Short Biography of Engineer Benjamin Prescott by Kevin Franklin
For the Krum Kill
and Five Mile House area, see the northeast quadrants of | 1893
| 1927 | 1950
| from Albany NY
Quadrangle from Historic USGS Maps of New York and New England
Albany Water Works, 1835-1851 collection at Lehigh University
Quackenbush Pumping Station, Albany Water Works (Wikipedia) Began operating in 1875, taken out of service in 1937. This plant was flooded in April, 1913, which resulted in a typhoid outbreak (see 1913 and 2013 articles above).
© 2018 Morris A. Pierce
