Documentary History of American Water-works

Lexington

Lexington, Virginia

Lexington was first settled in 1777.

An 1832 law authorized a lottery to raise $12,000 for paving and waterworks. Another law that year authorized construction of the water system, which was in service the following year using locally-made cast iron pipes to distribute water from a reservoir. The system was rebuilt in the 1880s.

The waterworks are currently owned by the City of Lexington.

References
1832 An act to raise money by lottery for conducting water into, and paving the streets of the town of Lexington, in the county of Rockbridge. March 10, 1832.

1832 An act providing for a supply of water in the town of Lexington, in the county of Rockbridge. December 19, 1832.

1834 An act to amend “an act providing for a supply of water in the town of Lexington, in the county of Rockbridge,” passed December 19th, 1832. January 2, 1834.

1837 An act to amend the act, entitled, "an act providing for a supply of water in the town of Lexington, in the county of Rockbridge." March 30, 1837.

1883 Lexington from Engineering News 10:52 (February 3, 1883) [The article is titled "Lexington, Ky. but is really about Lexington, Va. as indicated in the text. Note that Joseph B. Holmes is listed as superintendent in the article, but lower in the same column is a reference to "From Joseph B. Holmes, Superintendent, statistics of Lexington, Va., Water-works." ]

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

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

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

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

1905 "Reminiscences of Lexington's Early Water Supply," Lexington Gazette, February 22, 1905, Page 2.

1905 "Lexington's Present System of Water Works," Lexington Gazette, March 1, 1905, Page 3.

1920 A History of Rockbridge County, Virginia, by Oren Frederic Morton
Page 150: In 1832 the lottery was still hardly thought of as a form of gambling. In that year Lexington was authorized to raise $12,000 by such means and use it in paving the streets and bringing water into the town.