| Introduction | Historical Background | Chronology | Geography | Biography | Technology | Ownership and Financing | General Bibliography |
| Middle Atlantic States | Pennsylvania | Norristown |
Norristown was incorporated in 1812.
The borough of Norristown was given permission to build water works in 1826, but did not do so.
The Norristown Insurance Company was incorporated in 1834 with Dr. John H. Hill, James Wells, Adam Slemmer, John B. Sterigere, Philip S. Markley, Jacob Fry Jr., Samuel D. Patterson, Daniel Jacoby, George Richards, John Freedley, George H. Pawling, Philip Reed, William Mintzer, Gen. Henry Sheetz, John Hunsicker, Dr. James Anderson, John Stevens, Henry Longacre, George W. Holstein, Charles Jones and Matthew Roberts appointed as commissioners to sell stock.
The Norristown Water Company was incorporated in 1838 with John B. Sterigere, Joseph Thomas, John Freedley, Thomas M. Jolly, Adam Slemmer, James M. Pawling, William H. Slingluff, John Boyer, Isaiah W. Davis, William Powell, Samuel Jamison, Bernard McCreedy, Jacob Spang, Joseph Fornance and Levi Roberts appointed as commissioners to sell stock.
The Norristown Insurance Company was rechartered in 1840 and the same was changed to the Norristown Insurance and Water Company "to proceed to bring and convey into the borough of Norristown." Joseph Thomas, Adam Slemmer, William H. Slingluff, John B. Sterigere, George Rundle, William Miller, James Wells, Jacob Fry Jr., George Reichard, George W. Holstein, John Freedly, George H, Pawling, Henry Scheetz, Dr. James Anderson, Henry Longaker, Mathew Roberts, John Boyer, Bernard McCreedy, Samuel Jemison, Jacob Spang, Joseph Fornance, Levi Roberts, Modecai R. Moore, Henry Kerr, James Hooven, Jacob Freedley, George W. Thomas, George W. Roberts, William Z. Mathews, Benjamin F. Hancock, Philip Hahn, Dr. Henry D. W. Pawling, John Jacobs, Isaac H. Miller, Jacob Bodey, and William Henry were appointed as commissioners to sell stock, but they did not receive their letters patent from the governor until March 31, 1847, at which time they began construction of a system using a steam engine to pump water into a reservoir. This system began distributing water in January, 1848.
The Consumers' Water Company was incorporated in 1889 to provide water in Norristown, no further information on this company has been found.
American Water Works Company, Inc. bought the company in 1962.
Water service is provided by the Pennsylvania American Water Company.
References
1826 A further supplement ot an act, entitled
"An act to erect Norristowon, in Mongomery county, into a borough, and
for other purposes." April 10, 1826.
1834 An act to incorporate the Norristown Insurance company of Montgomery county. March 11, 1834.
1838 An act supplementary to the resolution relative to the claim of Brown and Sawyers, passed the thirty-first of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six, & for other purposes. April 16, 1838. Section 20 incorporated the Norristown Water Company.
1846 A further supplement to the act, entitled “ An Act to incorporate the Norristown insurance company of Montgomery county," passed the eleventh day of March, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four. March 20, 1846.
1848 "Statement
of the Affairs of the Norristown Insurance and Water Company,"
February 7, 1860
Page 350: On or about the 1st of January, the distribution of water
through the town was commenced.
1860 "Annual Report of the Norristown Insurance and Water Company," February 6, 1860
1882 Norristown, from Engineering News, 9:6 (January 7, 1882)
1882 Norristown, from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.
1884 History
of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Volume 2, by Theodore
Weber Bean
Page 749: The water-works were incorporated in 1847, under the
title of "The Norristown Insurance and Water Company." They were
erected that year, at a cost of sixty-two thousand dollars. After
using the insurance privilege a few years it was abandoned. In 1875
the company erected a new engine-house, with large pumps, to which they
had the water conveyed from beyond Barbadoes Island in 1876, at a
considerable expense. In 1879, the old basin being found too small,
another, also on Dekalb Street, was constructed on higher ground, with a
new ascending main, the whole costing eighty-five thousand dollars
more. It is supposed that the company have now in use about forty
miles of iron pipe. The water was first introduced in December 1847,
and is forced from the Schuylkill to the basin, a distance of three-fourth
of a mile.
1888 "Norristown," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.
1889 Consumers Water Company, February 6, 1889
1890 "Norristown," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.
1891 "Norristown," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.
1897 "Norristown," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.
1961 "American Water
Works Files Exchange Plan," SEC
News Digest, October 3, 1961, Page 7. Offer to purchase
Norristown Water Company.
© 2016 Morris A. Pierce