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| Middle Atlantic States | Pennsylvania | Bethlehem |
Bethlehem was founded in 1741 by Moravians fleeing religious persecution.
The Bethlehem water works was built by Hans Christopher Christiansen in 1754 and demonstrated on June 21st of that year when it threw a jet of water "as high as the adjoining houses." Improvements were made over the following year and the system began regular service on June 27, 1755. The system was rebuilt in 1762 and iron pipes were introduced in 1813, although one 1860 source says iron pipes were introduced in 1818.
The Bethlehem Water Company was incorporated in 1845 by the "present members of the Bethlehem water company," P. H. Goepp, William Eberman, Henry Shulz, J. C. Brickenstein, C. D. Bishop, Christian Luckenbach, Henry B. Luckenbach, Charles L. Knauss, John Oerter, C. F. Beckel, Jonathan Bishop, Felix Fenner, Francis Zoller, G. Greenewald, Charles Tombler, John M. Micksh, Jacob Siegmund, and James T. Borheck. The company took over the system and operated it until the local borough council bought it 1872.
The City bought the Bethlehem City Water Company on September 28, 1920.
The Bethlehem Municipal Water Authority was incorporated on August 14, 1938.
The water system is currently owned by the Bethlehem Municipal Water Authority, which leases it to the City of Bethlehem.
The Bethlehem water works is a National Historic Landmark, Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, and an American Water Landmark. The works were visited by George Washington, John Adams, and many others.
References
1777 John
Adams to Abigail Adams, February 7. 1777
They have carried the mechanical Arts to greater Perfection here than in
any Place which I have seen. They have a sett of Pumps which go by Water,
which force the Water up through leaden Pipes, from the River to the Top
of the Hill, near an hundred feet, and to the Top of a little Building, in
the shape of a Pyramid, or Obelisk, which stands upon the Top of the Hill
and is twenty or thirty feet high. From this Fountain Water is conveyed in
Pipes to every Part of the Town.
1788 New-Haven
Gazette, April 17, 1788, Page 1.
Bethlehem, 16th August, 1787.
The inhabitants of this town are supplied with water, by having it run
through a cistern, in their kitchen, or by drawing it, by turning a
cock. A spring supplies this water, which by a pump, worked by a
water machine, is forced up more than ninety feet, into the fountain head,
from whence it is conveyed by leaden pipes to the different houses.
1796 Travels
through the States of North America and the Provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada, during the Years, 1795, 1796, and 1797, by Isaac
Weld, Jr. (Fourth Edition, 1800)
Page 543. November, 1796. Bethlehem. Every house in the town
is supplied with an abundance of excellent water from a spring, which is
forced through pipes by means of an hydraulic machine worked by water, and
which is situated on the banks of the creek. Some of the houses are
supplied with water in every room. The machine is very simple, and would
easily raise the water, if necessary, several hundred feet.
1799 Philadelphia
Gazette, March 25, 1799, page 3.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman of intelligence and information in
Bethlehem, to his correspondent in this city, dated February 1.
"With pleasure I answer your's--I have several times read Mr. Latrobe's
Report, concerning the supplying the city of Philadelphia with
water. My wish is, that is may be adopted without hesitation or
delay. In no part do I think it impracticable. It appears the
only advisable method of effecting it to the purpose required. I
also perceive the clashing it occasions with the proprietors of the Canal;
but interest on such occasions, and in matters of such great moment, ought
not to raise its head. As to pipes,
we have had the yellow and pitch pine.
Good pitch or yellow pine pipes have lasted 30 years, 2 1/2 inch
bore. No inconvenience with regard to the taste, and indeed our
water was better and cooler than we have it at present through leaden
pipes. Here, it is to be observed, that a tree for a 4 inch
bore should have 12 inches grain (heart) to leave 4 inches wood. The
sap will not last 2 years--the 12 inches must be at the thin end.
The next best is white oak; in
Nazareth the pipes are all white oak, the water excellent, no
taste of the wood, and have lasted 20 years. When our water works
were first erected we have pine pipes
from the machinery to the reservoir. The pine
was very troublesome--we have to put many rings round the pipes, and yet
we could not make them tight--the weight of the water, &c. would burst
them. We then used gum, a
wood that will not split, but will last only about 12 years--yields no
taste to the water. If good yellow pine of the size mentioned in the
gain of the smallest end (but straight it must be by all means, otherwise
the hole will come too near the sap and will not last at all) it ought to
be preferred to any other: but if it is
not of this description, and every stick alike, white oak is
preferable; for only one piece is bad in an extent of a compressed water
course, the while is useless until that spot is repaired. Mr. Henry,
to whom I shewed your letter, gives the preference to white
oak. I wish good success to the undertaking, and anything
required of me, will always be communicated with pleasure."
1802 "Journey
to Bethlehem," by Joshua Gilpin (continued), The Pennsylvania
Magazine of History and Biography 46(2):122-153 (1922)
Page 145: [October 19, 1802] After passing thro' the sisters house we led
into the store room where we were to buy some of their work, which I did
but & think there was no assortment as the whole was contained in four
drawers. they said they had sold more than usual this season— I had told
Daddy Thomas I wished to see other parts of the institution particularly
the Church and water works but by the time we were done here he said the
men were going to dinner & nothing would be done till afternoon, so
accordingly I went to the Inn to my own, about 3 oClock Daddy Thomas again
called at the Inn but not to take me further about the town, it was he
said under an engagement to go with another party thro' the same business
we were at this fore noon & to leave them in the same manner, and as I
saw that was their regular form with which visitors were treated, I was
determined to do as well as I could for myself— Of course I first tried
the Water Works on the Monocasy, which is a wheel working three pistons in
brass cylinders to force the water thro' leaden pipes into a small stone
reservoir on a high part of Bethlehem whence there are four conduits to
the gardens cultivated at seperate houses & to the houses for washing
& other purposes.
1845 An act to authorize the governor to incorporate the Bethlehem water company. February 24, 1845.
1847 Proceedings of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania 1(10):114 (March 1847)
Donations. From Dr. Maurice C. Jones. A manuscript plan and description of
the water works erected in Bethlehem, Nottingham Co., in 1762, which were
the first water works in North America.
1860 History
of the Lehigh Valley, by Mathew Schropp Henry.
Page 233: The waterworks at Bethlehem were the first in
Pennsylvania, and it is said that a committee of the council of the city
of Philadelphia came to see these works when it was in contemplation to
erect the waterworks in that city. The works are located on the Monocacy
Creek, and are propelled by a water-wheel. The water is drawn from a
spring of delightful cool water. The following facts in regard to the
works has been kindly furnished at our request.
The waterworks were commenced in 1761 and completed in February, 1764.
Hans Christian Christenson, a native of Copenhagen, was the projector and
mastermillwright, and received 4 shillings a day for his services. Demuth
and David Bithoff were his assistants. The water was forced to an
elevation of about 100 feet by 3 single-stroke iron pumps (which cost £9)
to the top of a wooden tower, 55 feet high, erected on the ground now
occupied by the Moravian church, and from there distributed through wooden
mains to all parts of the village. The small distributing pipes were lead.
The entire cost of the works, as originally constructed, was £522 4s. 73d.
The heavy wrought-iron crank which propelled the pumps was made by hand by
Stephen Blum, assisted by the well-known Adolphus Jorde, at that time
apprentice to the blacksmith at Bethlehem, and was considered a
masterpiece of ironwork. When the wooden mains were decayed, leaden pipes
were substituted, and the first iron pipes were introduced in 1818. In the
same year, the reservoir in Market Street was built, and the one north of
Broad Street in 1833. The original building is still in existence and
occupied as a dwelling house. The cost of the new works was $20,000.
1861 Supplement to an act incorporating the Bethlehem Water Company, approved February twenty-fourth, on thousand eight hundred and forty-five. May 1, 1861.
1868 A further supplement to an act to incorporate the Bethlehem Water Company, approved the twenty-fourth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-five. April 1, 1868.
1873 Historical Sketch of Bethlehem in
Pennsylvania: With Some Account of the Moravian Church, by
John Hill Martin
Page 28: The Water Works of Bethlehem, are celebrated as the first of the
kind erected in this country. They were planned and constructed in the
year 1762, by a Danish Moravian, a resident of the village; Hana Christian
Christianson, a shoemaker, and a native of the city of Copenhagen; and
were first put in operation on the 21st of January, 1764. The machinery
consisted of three single acting force pumps, four inch calibre, and
eighteen inch stroke, worked by a triple crank, geared to the shaft of an
undershot water wheel,eighteen feet in diameter, and two feet clear in the
buckets. The total head of water was two feet. On the water wheel shaft
was a wallower of thirty-three rounds, and gearing into a spin-wheel of
fifty-two cogs, attached to the crank. The three pistons were attached
each to a frame cross-head, working in grooves, to give them a parallel
motion with the pump, the cross-head was wood, as well as the part
containing the grooves, as guides. These works were in operation until
1832, when the present works were erected, and remodelled, upon the
principle of the present Water Works at Fairmount, Philadelphia, where the
horizontal double forcing pump, the design of Frederick Graeff, was first
used in this country.
The first raising main of the Bethlehem works, was made of Gum wood as far
as it was subject to great pressure, the rest of pitch pine. The first
forcing pumps were made of Lignum Vitae, the water was forced up into the
Receiver, in the High Tower, at the west end of the "Brothers' and
Sisters' House;" from thence it was distributed into Water Boxes or
Cisterns, partly above ground, from which it was drawn off for use. The
waterboxes mentioned, were six in number, and were situated at the
following places.
1. In the yard of the Brethren's House.
2. In the yard of the Sisters' House, on Church Street, and still in use.
3. At Simon Rau's, still used.
4. In Market Street, opposite the Old Graveyard, and still in use.
5. In the Old Farm House Yard.
6. At the "Sun Hotel."
The first pipes laid for the conveyance of water, were of leather, but not
proving very serviceable, wooden ones were soon substituted; in 1786
leaden pipes were introduced in their stead, and in 1813 these were
changed for pipes made of iron, which are now used all over the town.
In constructing the first Water Works, a very curiously made crank had to
be invented, in order to work the three pistons, it was at first thought
to be impossible to make it, but a celebrated blacksmith of the place,
named Stephen Blum, accomplished it, and gained great credit thereby.
The Spring from which the supply of water is obtained, is quite a
curiosity in its way, and that it is able to furnish the constant demand,
is a matter of astonishment to all who examine it, for it is a very small
affair, not more than three feet square, and two feet deep, situated near
the "Old Mill," on Water Street, opposite the "Old Tannery," yet, small as
it is, and despite the constant use of its waters, there is never, even in
summer time; any perceptible diminution in the quantity of water in the
Spring; there being a constant, and almost imperceptible flow into it from
some unseen source. And although in 1868, steam power was introduced to
supply the increasing demand of the growing town, the Spring still
continues full, without any signs of inability to meet all the wants of
the inhabitants, except in eases of fires.
The lower Mill, where the forcing power is located, is the Mill where the
celebrated Bethlehem buckwheat flour is made, which is in such demand in
the cities of Philadelphia and New York. The forcing power was, previous
to the year 1868, furnished by the water of the Manockasy Creek, which
runs through that part of the town.
The water of the Spring is very cool and clear, slightly impregnated with
lime, but not enough so as to affect its taste; it is perfectly healthful,
very pleasant to the palate, and has no perceptible effect upon the human
system, that is at all injurious. A large frame building is erected over
the Spring, which is used by the people of the neighborhood, for the
purpose of keeping cool and preserving their meats and butter, during the
summer season,the water passing through it, keeping the building as cold
as an ice house. The reservoirs in the town, into which the water is
conveyed for distribution, are covered from the sun and dirt, so that it
is carried to the houses, free from all impurities, and comes out of the
supply pipes as clear as crystal, and does not need ice to cool it, even
in the hottest days of summer.
Before the Water Works were erected there were many attempts made to
obtain water, by digging wells, but as the hill on which the town is
built, is formed of rotten lime-stone, all was labor in vain. There exists
at present, in the middle of Broad Street near Main, one of those wells
arched over, instead of being filled up; its exact position will be
discovered unexpectedly some day.
Page 68: "The Old Water Works" building
Page 71: The Water Works of Bethlehem, by which water is conveyed
through the town, are a great curiosity. It is forced from a spring 100
feet high into a deep well, and a number of pipes leading off from the
well under ground, conveys the water wherever it is wanted. They keep
large cisterns full in ease of fire.
1877 Historical Sketch of the Bethlehem Water Works by Robert Rau
1882 Engineering News, 9:135 (April
29, 1882)
Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in lat. 40° 36' 24" N., long. 76° 56' 8" W., is
on the northeast fork of the Lehigh River and Monoquacy Creek, on high and
uneven land. It was settled in 1741and incorporated as a borough in 1845.
Water-works were built in 1754, by Hans Christopher Christiansen, a
millwright and a native of Denmark. These are believed to have been the
first works for public water supply built in the United States. The water
was taken from a spring issuing from magnesian limestone,near the banks of
the Menogassi Creek, as it was then called.
The water was conducted 350 ft. through an under[ground?] conduit into a
cistern, whence it was pumped by a lignum vitae pump of 5-in. bore,
through bored hemlock logs, to a height of 70 ft., into a wooden tank in
the village square. Trouble was experienced from the bursting of the
pipes, and 1¼-in.pipes of sheet lead, soldered along the edges bedded in a
cement of pitch and brick dust and laid in a gutter of brick were tried
without much success.
In 1762, Christiansen, aided by John Arbo and Marshall, constructed larger
works. An 18-ft.undershot wheel drove three single-acting force pumps of
iron of 4-in. bore and 18-in. stroke. The force main was of gum wood and
the distribution pipes of pitch pine. The latter had to be renewed in
1769. In 1786 lead pipes were substituted for the gum wood force
main and for most of the distributing pipes. The last pitch pine pipes
were abandoned in 1791.
The reservoir was a wooden tower in the “little square.” This was removed
in 1803 and a stone tower built on Market street, about 15 ft. high, in
which was a tank at an elevation of 112 ft. above the spring. A
reservoir 70 ft. long, 10 ft. wide and 7 ft. deep was built in 1817.
In 1832 another reservoir was constructed on higher ground and the water
tower abandoned. In 1832 the triple pumps were replaced by one
double-acting pump. In 1868 steam-power was used for pumping, and in
1874 a second steam pump was added. It is double acting, with
12-in.bore and 36-in.stroke. In 1874, the wooden conduit from the
spring to the pump house was replaced by an 18-in.iron pipe. In 1872, the
present reservoir, a circular iron tank 40ft. in diameter and 8 ft. high
was placed at a point 149 ft. above the spring.
The water is pumped directly into the mains, the tank being use only as a
regulator of pressure.
There are 4 miles of cast-iron pipe of from 8 to 3-in. diameter, with 75
fire hydrants, 80 gates and 350 taps.
The population in 1880 was 5,000.
The works were controlled by the Bethlehem Water Company from 1845 to
1871, when they were purchased by the town for $20,300. The cost of
the works has been $30,000 to the present time. The bonded debt is
$38,000, bearing 4 3/4 per cent. interest. The expenses in 1881were $5,000
and the receipts $3,600. The works are managed by the borough council
through the water supply committee, of which C. M. Anstatt is
Chairman. Charles Bodder is the Superintendent.
1882 Bethlehem, from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1884 "Bethlehem Water Works," by John W. Jor. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 8(1):118-119 (March, 1884) | Also here |
1888 "Bethlehem," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1890 "Bethlehem," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Bethlehem," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1897 "Bethlehem," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1903 Water works history from A History of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1741-1892 by Joseph Mortimer Levering
1911 Sixth
Annual Report of the Commissioner of Health of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, Part I
Page 214: Report of Investigation of Typhoid Fever in South
Bethlehem and Vicinity, September and October, 1911.
1976 The Meaning of the Bethlehem Waterworks: An Address Presented at the Dedication of the Restored 1762 Waterworks, May 22, 1976, by Brooke Hindle
2016 Historical Evolution of Design and Supply of Drinking Water Treatment Plant for the City ofB ethlehem, 1741-Present, by Juliana Telles, William Sullivan, Pantelis Takos, Amber Schrum, Allie Stevens, and Evan Ward. Undergraduate Honors Theses and Capstone Projects, Lehigh University
The Significance of the Bethlehem Water Works from Historic Bethlehem (PDF)
© 2015 Morris A. Pierce