Documentary History of American Water-works

Gate City

Gate City, Virginia

Gate City was incorporated as the Town of Estillville in 1834 and the name was changed to Gate City in 1890.

The Estillville Water Company was organized in 1832 and built a system using wooden logs.

Another Estillville Water Company was incorporated on February 23, 1889 and built a new system, which in 1925 was merged with the Gate City Light and Power Company to form the Branson Service Corporation, headed by James Floyd Branson (1867-1957), who has earlier been involved in utility plants in Abingdon and Richland, Virgnia.

The Town of Gate City acquired the system around 1928.

Water is currently provided by the Town of Gate City,

References
1835 A Comprehensive Description of Virginia and the District of Columbia: Containing a Copious Collection of Geographical, Statistical, Political, Commercial, Religious, Moral, and Miscellaneous Information, Chiefly from Original Sources, by Joseph Martin
Page 441: This place is supplied with water by means of pipes, fthrough which it is brought 800 yards, and is conveyed to every dwelling. The water is of the purest and best quality.

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

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

1925 Richmond Times Dispatch, November 1, 1925, Page 20.
Gate City Utilities in Consolidation. Light, Power and Water Companies merge.
Pulaski, Va., Oct. 31.--The Gate City Light and Power Company and the Estilville Water company, operating in Scott County, have been merged and will be operated as the Branson Service Corporation. J. F. Branson, the promoter of the new company, will be its business head. In connection with acquiring the properties, Mr. Branson has also purchased the McFadden Telephone and holdings and proposes to make considerable extensions of the lines in that section.
The light and power company was formerly owned by Dr. E. D. Rollins and the water company by John H. Johnson.

1932 History of Scott County, Virginia, by Robert M. Addington. Reprinted 1992.
Page 223: Wooden Pumps. The old-time farmhouse was often supplied with water which was conveyed by pump logs. A hole was bored through a section of log six or eight feet long, with an auger made specially for the purpose. These logs were placed end to end from the spring to a wooden upright. In 1832 the Estillville Water Company supplied the town with water through a system of wooden pumps. The difficulty of pump making induced men such as Samuel T. Francis, George and James Profitt, and James Nickels to follow pump making as an occupation.