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| Middle Atlantic States | Pennsylvania | Allegheny |
Allegheny was laid out in 1788, incorporated as a borough in 1828 and as a city in 1840. It was annexed to Pittsburgh in 1907.
The first water system in Allegheny was operating by the end of 1842, distributing water to four hydrants on Fleming Street (now Sandusky) through lead pipes supplied from a reservoir fed by a spring. The reservoir property was advertised for sale in December, 1842, but no other information about this system has been found, including its owners.
The 1840 charter for the city of Allegheny did not include any reference to water works, but rather gave the city councils "all the powers and authorities now vested by law in the select and common councils of the city of Philadelphia." The 1870 comprehensive charter revision gave the city councils "power to provide for a supply of water."
After engaging in numerous studies, including a potential supply from the adjacent city of Pittsburgh, the city of Allegheny built water works that began service in September, 1849, pumping water from the Allegheny River into an elevated reservoir. The rapid growth of the city placed significant strains on the water works systems, which struggled to expand the system rapidly enough to deliver sufficient water at an adequate pressure. The Allegheny system was merged with the city of Pittsburgh's water works after being annexed in 1907.
Water service is provided
by the City of Pittsburgh.
References
1840 An act to incorporate the city of
Allegheny. April 13, 1840.
1842 Pittsburgh
Daily Post, December 13, 1842, Page 3.
To Capitalists, or others wishing to make a good safe investment of
funds. The following described property for sale; a lot 395 by
84 containing the reservoir of the Allegheny Water Works, or in other
words, a capital spring furnishing sufficient water to supply an hundred
families conveyed by lead pipes down Fleming st., into the city, 4
hydrants are now in operation, supplying about 50 families.
1844 Harris'
business directory of the cities of Pittsburgh & Allegheny,
1844
Page 103: It is contemplated to supply the city of Allegheny with
water from the new basins, by laying a main pipe across under the
Allegheny river.
1847 "Proposals will be received at the office of the Pittsburgh Water Works, until the first of October next, for erecting Engines and Pumps of the Allegheny City Water Works," Pittsburgh Daily Post, September 23, 1847, Page 3.
1849 "Water in Allegheny," The Pittsburgh Gazette, September 17, 1849, Page 2.
1849 "Water in Allegheny," The Pittsburgh Gazette, September 21, 1849, Page 3.
1851 An act ... relative to water rents in the city of Allegheny... April 8, 1851. Section 10 addresses collection of water rents in the city of Allegheny.
1853 Annual Report of the Board of Water
Commissioners 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.
Page 21-22: Allegheny City Water Works.
1857 An act relative to water rents in the city of Allegheny. April 15, 1857.
1860 Relative to Taxes, Rates and Levies payable to the city of Allegheny. February 28, 1860. Section 7 refers to collection of water tax.
1864 An act relative to additional water works in the city of Allegheny. April 19, 1864.
1864 "Introduction of Water Meters," The Pittsburgh Gazette, May 25, 1864, Page 1.
1865 An act supplemental an Act relative to additional water works, in the city of Allegheny. March 23, 1865.
1869 An act authorizing the city of Allegheny to issue water bonds. March 22, 1869.
1870 To
reduce the charter of the city of Allegheny and the several acts
amendatory thereof into one act, and to revise the same. March
31, 1870.
Chapter Third - Powers and Duties of Councils. Section 10. Councils
shall have power to provide for a supply of water by the construction and
regulation of wells, pumps, cisterns, reservoirs or water-works; to
prevent and punish injuries to the works, and the pollution of the waters;
and for the purpose of establishing water-works, or for supplying the same
with pure water, the corporation may go beyond its territorial limits, and
its jurisdiction; to prevent or punish any injury to the water-works or
pollution to the stream or source of water shall extend beyond 1ts
corporate limits.
1872 A supplement to an act authorizing the city of Allegheny to issue water bonds, approved March twenty-second, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine. March 8, 1872.
1881 Allegheny, from Engineering News, 8:243 (June 18, 1881)
1882 Allegheny, from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1887 "The Water Supply of Allegheny," by James Hayward Harlow, Proceedings of the Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania, 3:97-109 (1887)
1888 "Allegheny," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1890 "Allegheny," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Allegheny," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1893 "The Water Supply of Pittsburg and Allegheny City," by James Hayward Harlow, Proceedings of the Engineering Society of Western Pennsylvania 9(3):17-33 (March, 1893)
1894 "Report of Committee on Water Supply of Pittsburg and Allegheny," by James Hayward Harlow, Proceedings of the Engineering Society of Western Pennsylvania 10(4):1-4 (April, 1894)
1895 "Five-foot Gate Valves for the Allegheny Water Supply Conduit," Engineering News 34:143 (August 29, 1895)
1897 "Allegheny," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1897 A
Digest of the acts of assembly relating to and the general ordinances
of the city of Allegheny from 1840 to April 1st, 1897
Pages 250-251: Water Rates
1987 "The Allegheny City Water Works, 1840-1907," Bruce W. Jordan, Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, 70(1):29-52 (January, 1987)
© 2016 Morris A. Pierce