Documentary History of American Water-works

Danville

Danville, Virginia

Danville was incorporated as a town in 1833 and as an independent city in 1890.

The Danville Water and Gas Company was formed in 1874 and built a pumping system that began service in 1875.

The water and gas systems were bought by the city of Danville in 1876 for $141,500.

Water service is provided the City of Danville.

References
1876 An act to amend the act approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, entitled an act to amend the Charter of the Town of Danville, by the addition of a new section, to come in after section thirty-one of said Charter, as amended by act of the General Assembly, passed December fifteenth, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, by the addition of a section to come in after the said new section of said act. March 18, 1876.
§33. The said city council may provide, by purchase or otherwise, all proper and necessary supplies of water and gas for the use of said town, and for this purpose to build, erect, purchase, or hold water-works and gas-works, and all other property, real and personal, requisite for such works, and to manage and control the same as to said council may seem best.

1882 Danville, from "The Water-Supply of Certain Cities and Towns of the United States," by Walter G. Elliot, C. E., Ph. D.

1888 "Danville," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 1.

1890 "Danville," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 2.

1891 "Danville," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 3.

1897 "Danville," from Manual of American Water Works, Volume 4.

1927 "Sid Matthews Chalks Up His Fifty-Second Year as City Employee Today," The Bee (Danville, Virginia), February 2, 1927, Page 6.

1939 Roman Eagle Lodge, No. 122, A.F. and A.M.: 1820-1895, 1895-1938
Pages 324-325: Water, Gas and Electric Service.
Danville has made a notable name for itself among American municipal corporations for its outstanding record in regard to
its water, gas and electrical departments, aII of which it has operated for many years as a part of the city program. Danville had no well organized city plant until 1874, when a meeting of the town council was held to consider a proposition made by W. B. McDonough & Company of Cincinnati, in regard to the erection and operation of water and gas plants. This proposition was made by the above named Company on September 23, 1873.
A twenty-four year franchise was offered by the council to this firm under clearly outlined terms and specifications, one of which was to assure Danville and its inhabitants an abundance of good, soft, filtered water and an abundant supply of coal gas of good quality for illumination. The water and gas were to be furnished at rates not higher than those charged in other towns similarly situated.
Under the above franchise the water and gas works were constructed and on January 27, 1875, the constructors assigned the water and gas works to the Danville Water and Gas Light Company, a local concern. Two years later the town council resolved that a committee of one be appointed to petition the General Assembly to permit the annullment of the charter so as to give authority to erect or purchase a water and gas works. On April 11, 1876, the town council voted to purchase these plants, for the sum of $141,500.00.
Service operation programs have been improved until today Danville has thoroughly modern water, gas and electric plants...

1955 A Brief History of Danville, Virginia, 1728-1954, by Lora Beatrice and Wade Hairston
The Danville Water and Gas Company was founded in 1874 and built a system that began operating in 1875. The company was bought by the city in 1876 for $141,500.