| Introduction | Historical Background | Chronology | Geography | Biography | Technology | Ownership and Financing | General Bibliography |
| Middle Atlantic States | New York | Syracuse |
Syracuse was incorporated as a village in 1825.
The village of Syracuse was authorized to construct water works in 1821, which was reaffirmed in the 1825 village charter. In 1829 the village was given the power to convey the rights to the water works to Oliver Teall, a prominent local citizen, which was again affirmed in 1834. Although some sources indicate that Teall built water works in 1829, the village did not convey the rights to him until June 8, 1841, and he constructed a system using wooden pipes that began operating in 1843. At some point, Ira Seymour and Aaron Burt associated with Teall in the water works under the firm name of Teall, Seymour & Burt, which continued until 1849.
The Syracuse City Waterworks Company was incorporated in 1849 by Oliver Teall, Ira Seymour, John Wilkinson, Hamilton White, and Roger Furham, and acquired Teall's system, which was expanded and cast iron pipes were installed in 1853. In 1871 a Holly steam-driven rotary pumping engine with a capacity of 3 million gallons per day was installed to pump water into the system's reservoirs. A 10 million gallon per day Worthington engine was installed in August, 1877 and the Holly engine was offered for sale. Two 3 million gallon per day Deane pumps were added in 1884. The Worthington and Deane pumps were offered for sale in 1897. The name of the Syracuse City Waterworks Company was changed to the Syracuse Water Company in May, 1879.
The Central City Water
Works Company was incorporated on January 28, 1885 and received a
franchise from the City of Syracuse on March 23, 1885. The five
trustees of this company were Frank B. Merrill, John F. Moffett, Frank A.
Hinds, Chas Wm. Kurtz, and Alfred J. Luce. (Moffett and Hinds were
involved in many water works in the late 1880s.) The old and new
companies made extravagant promises to the city and a public ownership
movement was begun, but was initially unsuccessful.
In June, 1889, the citizens of Syracuse, at a special election, declared almost unanimously in favor of Skaneateles Lake water and municipal ownership. The Syracuse Water Board took possession of the works on January 1, 1892 at a cost of $850,000. A new gravity system taking water from Skaneateles Lake began operating in 1894. The lake is nineteen miles southwest of the city and 460 feet higher. The city later began providing water to the Villages of Elbridge, Jordan, and Skaneateles.
Water is currently provided by the City of Syracuse.
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| Skaneateles Lake Water Service Illustration |
References
1821 An act to supply the Village of Syracuse
with wholesome Water. March 27, 1821
1825 An
act to Incorporate the Village of Syracuse. April 13, 1825.
XI. And be it further enacted, That all the rights, property and powers of
the trustees of the Syracuse water works, be and are hereby vested in the
said corporation, subject to the obligations of the said trustees; and the
several duties enjoined on said trustees in and by the act, entitled “an
act to supply the village of Syracuse with wholesome water,” passed 27th
March, 1821, shall hereafter be exercised by the trustees of said village.
1829 An
act to amend the Act entitled "An Act to incorporate the Village of
Syracuse," passed April 13, 1825. April 23, 1829.
§ 2. The trustees of said village shall have power to convey to Oliver
Teal, his heirs and assigns, all the rights, property and powers of the
trustees of the Syracuse water works company as vested in said village by
the eleventh section of the act hereby amended, for the term of twenty
years ; and the said Teal shall thereafter be possessed of all the powers,
rights and privileges which are granted in and by the act entitled "An act
to supply the village of Syracuse with wholesome water," passed March 27,
1821; but in case the said Teal, after receiving such conveyance, shall
neglect to exercise the powers thereby granted, the trustees of said
village shall, after one year's notice, have the right to resume all the
rights thereby granted, on pay ing him the appraised value of any
aqueducts laid ; and the sum which the said Oliver Teal shall eharge to a
private family for the use of the water, shall not exceed five dollars ;
for a boarding-house, ten dollars, and for a tavern, twenty dollars a
year.
1834 An
act to amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate, the village of
Syracuse," and the act amending the same. April 22, 1834.
§ 9. The trustees of said village shall have power to convey to Oliver
Teall, his heirs or assigns, all the rights, property and powers of the
trustees of the Syracuse water works company, as vested in said village by
the eleventh section of the act hereby amended, for the term of
thirty-five years from and after the passage of this act; and the said
Teall, his heirs or assigns, shall thereafter be possessed of all the
powers, rights and privileges which are granted in and by the act entitled
"An act to supply the village of Syracuse with wholesome water," passed
March 27, 1821, and of all the powers of said village in reference to that
subject, by virtue of this act and the act hereby amended; and the said
Teall, his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, may exercise in
his or their own name or names, all the rights and privileges granted by
said act; and he shall distribute the water to such places as the
trustees,may direct; but it shall not be necessary for him or them, during
said term of thirty-five years, to elect said three trustees, or account
for the money to be received by him or them from said works, as in and by
said act is provided. In case said Teall, after receiving the conveyance
of said rights, powers and privileges, shall neglect to exercise them, the
trustees of said village shall, after two years notice, have the right to
resume all the rights, powers and privileges thereby granted: provided,
that the sum which the said Teall, his heirs or assigns, shall charge for
the use of said water shall not exceed five dollars for a private family,
ten dollars for a boarding-house, and twenty dollars for a tavern, a year;
and provided further, that the trustees of said village shall have power,
at the expiration of said thirty-five years, to reinvest themselves and
take possession of said water works, and all appurtenances thereunto
belonging, by paying at the time of so taking possession thereof,
estimating said water works and appurtenances at the necessary cost of
erecting such works, deducting the decrease in their value by reason of
their waste and decay by time and use; and provided further, that in case
said trustees and said Teall, or his heirs, executors, administrators or
assigns, cannot agree upon the value thereof, the same shall be
ascertained and determined by three disinterested appraisers, to be
appointed by the supreme court of this state, at the instance of either
party.
1842 An
act to amend the several acts in relation to the village of Syracuse.
March 29, 1842.
§ 1 The ninth section of the act entitled "An act to amend the act
entitled an act to incorporate the village of Syracuse," and the act
amending the same, passed April 22, 1834, is here by amended as follows:
the said Oliver Teall, his heirs or assigns may charge for the use of the
water contemplated in the said ninth section hereby amended, a sum not
exceeding ten dollars per annum for a private family, twenty dollars per
annum for a boarding house, and forty dollars per annum for a tavern.
1847 An
act to incorporate the city of Syracuse, December 14, 1847
§ 12. ... The same rights, duties, obligations and requirements as are now
held by the trustees of the village of Syracuse, or imposed upon them in
relation to Oliver Teall, as to supplying the said village with pure and
wholesome water, shall be conferred and imposed upon the said common
council.
1849 An act to incorporate the Syracuse City Waterworks Company. April 5, 1849.
1851 An act to amend the act entitled "An act to incorporate the Syracuse City Water Works Company" passed April fifth, one thousand eight hundred and fifty. April 8, 1851.
1853 An act to amend an act entitled, "An act to incorporate the Syracuse City Water Works Company," passed April 5, 1849. March 22, 1853.
1855 An act to amend "An act to incorporate the Syracuse City Water Works Company" passed April 5, 1849. February 5, 1855.
1864 An act to amend an act entitled “An act in relation to the Syracuse City Water Works Company,” passed April fifth eighteen hundred forty-nine. March 31, 1864.
1865 An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the Syracuse City Water Works Company," passed April fifth, eighteen hundred and forty-nine. March 3, 1865.
1867 An act to enable the county of Onondaga to obtain a supply of water for the county poor-house. May 8, 1867. The county to compensate the Syracuse City Water Company.
1871 Reports of the Engineers to the Joint Committee of Walderment and Citizens of the City of Syracuse, New York, on a Supply of Water, from the Tully Lakes. January, 1871.
1872 Watertown
Daily Times, March 1, 1872, Page 3.
Whisky has gone up in price since the water works gave out in Utica and
Syracuse.
1876 "Syracuse,
N. Y." from Addresses
as President of the National Board of Fire Underwriters of the United
States: On Several Occasions, 1871-76
Page 59: The water supply is derived from reservoirs and the "Holly"
system, under the control of a private company. The pumping house is
located on Onondaga Creek, about one and a half (1 1/2) miles from the
City Hall, and has two (2) "Holly" rotary pumps, with a capacity of about
three million (3,000,000) gallons of water per tweniy-four hours.
1878 Engineering
News, 5(10):1 (March 7, 1878)
For Sale. Water Pumping Engine. It was made at the Holly Works in
Lockport, and has been in use only six months in each year for five
years.
Capacity - 3,000,000 gallons water each day.
E. H. Brown, Superintendent, Syracuse, N. Y. November 14, 1877
1878 "The
Holly System of Water Supply and Fire Protection for Cities and Villages,"
Scientific American Supplement,
6(140supp):2219-2234 (September 7, 1878)
Page 2219: The rotary pump was also used in connection with high pressure
steam engines for water works in Binghamton, Batavia and Syracuse, N. Y.;
Peoria and Decatur, Ill.; Kalamazoo, Jackson and Big Rapids, Mich.
In these places the matter of fire protection was the first consideration,
that of domestic supply and cost of power being secondary.
1879 An act to amend chapter two hundred and twenty-four of the laws of eighteen hundred and forty-nine, entitled "An act to incorporate the Syracuse City Water Works Company," and to amend the title of said act. May 26, 1879. Corporate name changed to Syracuse Water Company.
1881 Syracuse, Engineering News, 8:364 (September 10, 1881)
1882 "Report
on the Water Supply of Certain Cities in the United States," by
Walter G. Elliott, Statistics of Power and Machinery Employed
in Manufactures, Volume 2, U.S. Census Office, 1887
Page 257-258: Syracuse information is listed under section
"Water-works employing the gravity system and pumping to distributing
reservoir and mains."
1888 "Syracuse," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1886 An act to establish and maintain a water department in and for the city of Syracuse. March 17, 1886.
1886 An act to extend the corporate powers of the Syracuse Water Company and to authorize the issuing of additional bonds. May 12, 1886.
1886 The Syracuse Water Company against the City of Syracuse and the Central City Water Works Company, Appeal from Two Judgments. Records and briefs. This includes many documents relating to the development of water works in Syracuse.
1889 Report of Commissioners on Sources of Water Supply for the City of Syracuse, New York. February 1, 1889
1889 An act to establish and maintain a water department in and for the city of Syracuse. May 15, 1889.
1889 The Syracuse Water Company v. the City of Syracuse and the Central City Water Works Company decided October 8, 1889
1889 The Syracuse Water Company, Apellant, v. The City of Syracuse, Respondent, 116 N.Y. 167, October 8, 1889, Court of Appeals of the State of New York
1890 "Syracuse," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Syracuse," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1893 Municipal Acquirement of Private Water Company Plants as illustrated by the Syracuse Water Works Company's Condemnation by the City of Syracuse, N. Y., by Stephen E. Babcock, September 6, 1893. A paper read before the American Water Works Association at Milwaukee, Wis., September 6, 1893.
1893 "Municipal Acquirement of the Plant of the Syracuse Water Co.," by Stephen E. Babcock, Engineering News 30:207-208 (September 12, 1893)
1894 "The New Water Supply for Syracuse," by Thos. McE. Vickers," | with Inset | Engineering News 32:480-482 (December 13, 1894)
1895 "The Water-Works of Syracuse, N. Y.," by William R. Hill, Read May 15th 1895. Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers 34(1):23-66 (July 1895)
1896 Onondaga's Centennial: Gleanings of a
Century, Volume 1, edited by Dwight H. Bruce
Page 457: The principal events that took place between the year 1842
and the incorporation of the city, were the laying of the first wooden
pipes for supplying the village with water in 1842-3.
Page 503-508: Syracuse City
Water Works
1897 "Syracuse," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1907 Municipal and Private Operation of Public Utilities: Report to the National Civic Federation Commission on Public Ownership and Operation, Part II - Volume 1, Reports of Experts, National Civic Federation. Commission on Public Ownership and Operation. Pages 2-7 include a history of the Syracuse Water Works.
1908 "Oliver Teall" from Past and present of Syracuse and Onondaga county, New York: from prehistoric times to the beginning of 1908, Volume 2, by William Martin Beauchamp
1931 Department
Reports of the State of New York, Volume 35
Pages 28-44: In the Matter of the Application of the City of
Syracuse for Approval of the Construction of a Second Intake in
Skaneateles Lake as an Increase in Its Water Supply and of Its Financial
and Engineering Plans for the Construction Thereof Water Supply
Application No. 609, Approved as modified, (Water Power and Control
Commission, September 22, 1931.:
1931 An act to amend the revised charter of the city of Syracuse, in relation to the sale of surplus water to the village of Elbridge in the county of Onondaga, a village having no adequate source of water supply. September 23, 1931
1931 Department
Reports of the State of New York, Volume 35
Pages 545-356: In the Matter of the Application of the Village of
Elbridge for Approval of Its Project for a Source of Water Supply and of
Its Financial and Engineering Plans for the Construction of a Water Supply
System, Water Supply Application No. 670, Approved as modified, Water
Power and Control Commission, November 25, 1931.
1933 "The Syracuse Water Works," by Marshall B. Palmer, Journal of the American Water Works Association, 25(2):264-274 (February 1933)
1940 In the Matter of the Application of City of Syracuse, Petitioner, for a Certiorari Order against John T. Gibbs, Deputy Conservation Commissioner, and Others, Constituting the Water Power and Control Commission, Respondents. Village of Jordan, Village of Skaneateles, and Town of Skaneateles, Intervenors, Respondents, 258 App. Div. 205, January 10, 1940, Third Department
1940 In the Matter of the City of Syracuse, Respondent, against John T. Gibbs et al., Constituting the Water Power and Control Commission, Appellants, 283 N.Y. 275, July 24, 1940, Court of Appeals of the State of New York
1940 Annual
Report of the Attorney General for the year ending December 31, 1940
Pages 89-90: City of Syracuse.-Water Su.pply Application No. 1049
The City of Syracuse applied to the Water Power and Control Commission for
approval of a project for taking an additional water supply from
Skaneateles Lake. On September 22, 1931, the Commission approved the
application. It declared Skaneateles Lake to be a natural source of water
supply for any part of the town of Elbridge and provided that any
municipality in the town should have the right to take the necessary
amount of water from the Syracuse conduits, paying for such water at an
agreed rate or, in default of any agreement, at a rate to be fixed by the
Commission.
On March 19, 1935, the Commission authorized the Village of Jordan to take
water from the Syracuse conduits. Jordan and Syracuse could not agree as
to the price to be paid for the water. The Village.of Jordan then
made its application to have the Commission fix the amount of water it
could take and the price it should pay. On August 20, 1936, the Commission
approved the application permitting the Village of Jordan to take not in
excess of 69,000,000 gallons per year at 2c. per hundred cubic feet.
Proceedings to review the determination of the Commission were instituted
by Syracuse.
In January, 1940, the determination was annulled (258 App. Div. 405).
Heffernan, J., dissenting in part, held that the Commission had the power
to fix the rate to be charged but that the formula used by the Commission
in fixing the rate was not proper.
Upon appeal to the Court of Appeals the order of the Appellate Division
was unanimously reversed and the determination of the Commission confirmed
(283 N. Y. 275).
This decision clarified the jurisdiction of the Water Power and Control
Commission over the water resources of the State. No municipal corporation
can take a water supply or an additional water supply without the approval
of the Commission.
1954 Department
Reports of the State of New York, Volume 74
Pages 236-239: In the Matter of an Application of the City of
Syracuse for Approval of Construction of Second Intake in Skaneateles Lake
as Increase in WAter Supply and Financial and Engineering plans for
Construction thereof. Request for Permission to Reduce Minimum
Amount of Diluting Water in Skaneateles Creek Below Minimum Fixed by
Commission. Water Supply Application No. 60, request for modification
dismissed, May 5, 1953.
1962 "Syracuse," 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
1977 "Water Works History: A Comparison of Albany, Utica, Syracuse, and Rochester" by Joseph W. Barnes, Rochester History 39(3):1-24 (July 1977)
© 2015 Morris A. Pierce