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| Middle Atlantic States | Pennsylvania | Altoona |
Altoona was incorporated as a borough in 1854 and as a city in 1868.
The city was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 and built large shops and a water system to serve its enormous railroad network.
Altoona was authorized to use surplus water from the Pennsylvania Railroad water system in 1855, but did not do so until a private company was formed for the purpose in 1859. Water was distributed through iron pipes and began service on December 15, 1859. The water supply proved to be inadequate, and in 1871 the city bought the water system and built a new reservoir.
The Altoona City
Authority was created by the City of Altoona in 1946 for the purpose of
financing capital improvement projects. The Authority assumed
operational responsibility of the water system from the City in 1981.
In 2009, the name was officially changed to the Altoona Water Authority.
Water is provided by the
Altoona Water Authority, which
has a short history page.
References
1855 An act relative to supplying the borough
of Altoona with water. May 2, 1855.
1857 An act to incorporate the Altoona Gas Company. April 24, 1857.
1859 A supplement to an act to incorporate the Altoona Gas Company. April 6, 1859. Name changed to Altoona gas and water company.
1861 "Water
Works of the United States and British North-American Possession," American
Gas Light Journal 2:202 (January 1, 1861)
Altoona, Pa., Cast-iron pipe.
1871 An act authorizing the city of Altoona to provide a supply of water and to borrow money. March 9, 1871.
1873 An act authorizing the city of Altoona to charge lot owners with water rates. April 10, 1873. Allows a "frontage tax" to be imposed.
1880 History
of the City of Altoona and Blair County: Including Sketches of the
Shops of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., by James H. Ewing
Pages 63-65: Water Supply. The stream of water first
introduced by the Pennsylvania Railroad company, and from which the public
was for a time supplied by the gas and water company, was found
insufficient, the increase of railroad shops requiring, at least in the
summer, all the water of the stream. The city council was urged to supply
the town from some other quarter, and finally selected Kittanning and
Burgoon runs, about four miles west of the city. A twenty-inch pipe brings
the water from a dam at Kittanning Point to a reservoir located on
Prospect Hill, which has a capacity of 3,275,000 gallons. This improvement
cost over $200,000.
Pages 153-154: Water
Department.
1881 Altoona, from Engineering News, 8:342 (August 27, 1881)
1882 Altoona, from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1883 History
of Huntingdon and Blair Counties, Pennsylvania, by J. Simpson
Africa
Page 151: Fire Department.—The question of protection from the
all-devouring element, fire, is one that early engages the attention of
every town. Altoona has been no exception to this universal interest, for
the borough authorities as early as 1854 took the matter into
consideration.‘ Subsequently the propriety of purchasing an engine was
broached, but nothing definite was accomplished until April, 1859, when a
fire company was organized. The prime movers in this were A. H. Maxwell,
Alex. A. Smyth, and A. C. Vauclain. A subscription was circulated, and
with the money raised a hand-engine was purchased of the “Good Will Fire
Company," of Philadelphia, and the organization here adopted the same
name. The engine arrived in Altoona Oct. 22, 1859. At this time there was
no water supply for the place. Two months later water was introduced into
the borough, and the people felt secure in their possession of a
fire-engine, water to supply it, and a company to man it. On the
event day that water and gas were first introduced into Altoons (Dec. 15,
1859), celebrated by a grand parade, the Good Will made their first
appearance in public, equipped in dark pants, white shirts, black belts,
and glazed caps.
Pages 154-155: Water and Gas Departments.- The matter of a water
supply early engaged the attention of the citizens of Altoona. In 1855 the
State Legislature, by an act approved May 2d, granted the borough
authorities certain privileges and powers to enable them to supply the
place with water. By a resolution of Council, March 8, 1859, the
Legislature was asked to transfer the authority conveyed by the act and
vest it in the “ Altoona" Gas and Water Company," a joint-stock
association, “which,” says the resolution, “a number of the citizens of
Altoona now propose to form,” and “we, the Council and chief burgess of
Altoona, deem it inexpedient in our corporate capacity to make the
expenditure necessary to comply with said act.” The company above referred
to was incorporated April 9, 1859. Its first officers were W. H. Wilson,
president; William M. Lloyd, treasurer; B. F. Rose, secretary; John
Shoemaker, Enos M. Jones, Charles J. Mann, Rev. A. B. Clarke, and George
B. Cramer, managers; and Thomas S. Francis, superintendent. May 9, 1871,
the name was changed to “Altoona Gas Company,” and Sept. 10, 1872, the
water-pipes were sold to the city authorities. The reservoirs at
Pottsgrove, with the company’s interest in the water-power at Pottsgrove
mill, and in the main from thence to the Twelfth Street reservoir, were
sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. In 1858 the right of way was
granted to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to lay water-pipes in any of
the streets or alleys of the borough, and the same year an act of the
Legislature was procured authorizing the Council to contract with the
railroad company for their surplus water, which act was subsequently
amended, granting authority to issue bonds for that purpose.
In the fall of 1859 the Council located water-plugs at the following
places: Figart’s corner, Methodist Church, Kipple’s, McDowell’s,
Cunningham's, West Ward school-house, corner of Kate and Virginia, Welsh’s
corner, Warfel’s, Conrad’s, Beck's, Campbell’s, Brethren Church, etc.
The public was for a time supplied by the “ Gas and Water Company," from
the water introduced into the city by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
but it was soon found to be insufficient for both, and in the summer
season hardly adequate to the wants of the railroad-shops. Therefore the
City Council selected Kittanning and Burgoon Runs, about four
miles west of the city, as a source of public supply. At Kittanning Point
is a dam, from whence a twelve-inch main runs to a reservoir on Prospect
Hill, which has a capacity of over three million gallons. This improvement
cost over two hundred thousand dollars, and nearly as much more was
expended in putting in sewers, in macadamizing streets, etc. Still
the water supply is inadequate to meet the present wants of the city; for
two or three years past there has been a great scarcity of the needful
element, and although water-pipes have been laid nearly all over the city,
the still-needed want of more reservoirs to store suflicient water to tide
over an extended drought has only the present year (1881) engaged the
active efforts of the authorities. It is proposed to build another
reservoir on Gospel Hill, and to increase the size of the main pipes.
The gas company, as before mentioned, was incorporated in 1859, as the
“Gas and Water Company of Altoona.” Gas was first introduced into the
pipes December 15th of that year. Having sold their water property
in part to the city, and the remainder to the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, the name was, on May 9, 1871, changed to “Altoona Gas Company,”
which it still retains.
1888 "Altoona," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1890 "Altoona," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Altoona," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1894 "A Narrow Escape for an Earth Dam, Altoona, Pa., Water-Works," Engineering News 31:473 (June 7, 1894) and 31:536 (June 28, 1894)
1897 "Altoona," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1899 "Flood-water Channel of the Altoona, Pa., Reservoirs," by Charles W. Knight, Journal of the New England Water Works Association 14(2):153-162 (December, 1899)
1911 Twentieth
Century History of Altoona and Blair County, Pennsylvania, and
Representative Citizens, by Jesse C. Sell
Pages 288-289: Water supply.
2022 Reservoirs of the Horseshoe Curve, by Mark Glenn | Altoona Reservoir System – The Making of an American Water Landmark (video) |
© 2018 Morris A. Pierce