Documentary History of American Water-works

Laramie, Wyoming

Laramie was founded in the mid-1860s on a stagecoach route, and later was a stop on the first transcontinental railroad.  It was incorporated as a town 1869 and as a city in 1884.

The first waterworks were built in 1868 by the Union Pacific Rail Road Company, which reached Laramie in May 1868.  Union Pacific Rail Road director Joseph Robinson built more extensive water works in 1875 to serve the railroad's new rolling mill and other customers, and at the request of the Union Pacific a law was passed in 1877 giving control of the water system to the city.

Water is supplied by the City of Laramie.

References
1873 Report of the Government Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad, December 1, 1873.
Pages 75-76:  Location of 75 water-stations, dimensions of tank, power used, and source of supply.
Laramie - Tank 16 x 24, supplied from river by steam-pump..

1875 History and Directory of Laramie City, Wyoming Territory
Page 35:  Water Supply.  It would be improper to omit some account of the means for water supply. The water, which is taken from a distant spring, is conveyed from the spring a distance of 12,728 feet through twelve inch pipe, into the town of Laramie City. This pipe has on it one eight inch branch, one six inch branch, and sixteen four inch branches. These branches are short, merely sufficient to permit the citizens of Laramie, for whose benefit so large a pipe was laid, to connect lines of water pipe, for town and domestic purposes, with those branches. In addition there have been laid two six inch branch pipes and 3,132 feet in length. These pipes have nine four inch branches for town accommodation, and two four inch branches, with 190 feet of four inch pipe, to the rolling-mill. The mill, when worked, to its full capacity, is capable of turning out four hundred and eighty rails, equivalent to about one hundred and twenty-five tons per day, and, will employ one hundred and sixty men.
In conclusion, I feel called upon to add that the machinery has been set up by F. M. Demons, the Superintendent of the Birmingham Iron Foundry, Birmingham, Conn., who has exhibited great energy in the discharge of his peculiar duties, and afforded me valuable advice and assistance during the prosecution of the work.
The water pipe has been laid under the immediate charge of A. P. Stevens, Civil Engineer, who has had to contend with many difficulties arising from the season and the weather. I am, respectfully, Wm. Cleburne, Div, Engineer.
Page 37:  City water works.  Our City Council has ordered the necessary pipes laid and attachment made, as described in Mr. Cleburne's report, and have ordered hydrants placed on each of the principal Street corners throughout our city; also the purchase of hose for the same.
As these immense springs from which said pipe is laid are one hundred and twenty feet higher than the town, we will undoubtedly have the finest and cheapest (almost natural) water works of any city in the United States.

1877 An act to authorize the Town of Laramie city to Control the Waterworks therein and to Regulate the Water Supply.  December 15, 1877.

1883 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, November 1883

1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, January 1887

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

1890 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, October 1890

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

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

1893 Report of the Commissioner of Railroads
Pages 110-111:  Laramie.  Water supply is from a spring; the quantity is ample and the quality is good.

1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, May 1894

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

1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, August 1907
Owned by city.

1912 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, July 1912

1914 Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States; Illustrated with Three Thousand Vignette Portraits, Volume V, by Thomas William Herringshaw
Page 5:  Richardson, Joseph, designer, architect, was born Sept. 7, 1814 in England.  Thirty years ago he established a line of steam-boats between New York and Bridgeport, Conn.  He water works at Laramie City are other monument to his enterprise, he having been their originator and builder.  He also built the waterworks at Houston, Texas.

1924 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming, September 1924

1949 "The History of Albany County to 1880," by Lola Homsher, Annals of Wyoming 21(2-3):181-213 (July-October, 1949)
Pages 203-205:  A second public service which was supplied to the townspeople by private initiative was the furnishing of water. Water was taken from the city springs east of Laramie and brought through town by means of ditches. This proved to be a source of convenience and danger, convenient as one had to but step to the street to draw a bucket of water for his use, but dangerous for small children at any time and to adults at night. Mrs. M. C. Brown related that most people used the water from the ditches for ordinary purposes, but for drinking we had water brought from the river which was quite expensive. People often sank barrels in the ditches and so had a quantity to dip from, but those barrels were very treacherous on a dark night; one was liable to step into them. My sister-in-law, in getting out of a carriage one night very agilely jumped right into one. The worst of it was she had on a beautiful new gown her mother had sent her from Philadelphia.  There were no sidewalks to guide one and the ditches were level with the streets so it was quit a feat to keep out of the water. I often wonder how mothers ever kept their little children out of those attractive ditches for there were no fences around the shacks of houses people lived in.
In 1871 a company took charge of the water supply and ditches under the charge of N. F. Spicer, Henry Hodgman, Ira Pease and their associates. They proposed to lay wooden pipes, deep enough to be safe from frost, to Laramie from the springs and to pipe it to individual homes.  One thousand logs were cut for this purpose, but the work was apparently never accomplished.
The Board of County Commissioners regulated the rates charged by the company and established the following:
Ranches for irrigating purposes $ .25 per week per acre
City lots, for irrigating purposes .10 per week per lot
Stone and brick masons 1.00 per week each
Stores .25 per week each
Saloons -— .50 per week each
Hotels 1.00 per week each
Restaurants .50 per week each
Bakeries .50 per week each
Private houses .25 per week each
Blacksmith .50 per week each
Complaints were often made about this water supply.
The farmers east of town broke the ditches to irrigate their crops, cutting the supply to town completely off. The townspeople were careless about throwing rubbage into the ditches with the result that they became filthy. They were also careless about the rubbage which piled up in the streets and about their homes, and it became almost impossible to keep that from the ditches when the wind blew. The company changed hands several times and finally the government was forced to take it over and regulate both the upkeep of the ditches and the distribution of the water.
Because of the growth of the town and the needs of the farmers, the town was divided into six districts, with one district being served each day. The Board of Trustees further passed an ordinance which stated that any person placing a barrel, tub or receptacle for water in the "street, alley or side walk without keeping it covered (was) liable to a fine of five to fifty dollars and deemed guilty of a nuisance."
Water was piped to Laramie by the Union Pacific company at the time they built the rolling mills in 1875, and some individuals were quick to take advantage of the new convenience. Editor Hayford on April 3, 1875, expressed his gratitude to Mr. Joseph Richardson for the privilege of being ahead of everyone else in getting water piped into his residence.  This was not generally true, however. In 1876 the railroad company offered to lay pipes at cost on streets where there were enough residents who were willing to pay for the work and the water, and individuals were restrained from tampering with pipes for their own use.
The Laramie water situation was finally settled when a bill was passed by the Territorial Legislature which gave control of the water works and the supply to the city.
This bill was introduced at the suggestion of the railroad officials who had expressed a willingness to turn them over to the city authorities who thereafter became responsible for their upkeep.

2019 "Laramie Gets Its First Safe and Reliable Drinking Water," by Kim Viner, Albany County Historical Society (February 26, 2019)
Before Laramie was settled in 1868, Fort Sanders was already located four miles south of where the new town was to be.  The military got its drinking water from Soldier Creek, which used to run through the fort (it is a dried-up creek bed now). But as Laramie began to blossom over the summer of 1868, a closer source of water was needed.
FIRST SOURCE OF WATER
The Big Laramie River flowed just west of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks through Laramie—it was an obvious choice to supply the town. On April 23, 1868, The Frontier Index newspaper optimistically reported that “capitalists” would soon form a company that would “carry water to every home in town.” In fact, some entrepreneurs quickly set up to collect river water and sell it townsfolk who stored it in barrels at their homes and businesses.
At the same time the town filed for water rights on City Springs to the east of town for irrigation purposes. A ditch was constructed to bring this water downhill to residents to use for their gardens and livestock. The “City Ditch” ran down what is now Grand Ave. and had branches running north and south to property owners. This open trench was clearly unsanitary to use as drinking water, especially with nearby privies at every house, and animals running wild all over town.
Some people also began to wonder about the cleanliness of the Laramie River water. More cattle ranches were established upriver, which was worrisome. Even more problematic, a slaughterhouse was established on the river at the Hutton ranch just a mile west of town around 1870.
Residents began searching for a way to get cleaner water to their homes. Ideas were floated but the impediment was getting the money to fund any project.  The solution finally came from an unlikely source—the Union Pacific Railroad.
UPRR HAS A PLAN
In 1873 rumors abounded that soon the railroad would build a rolling mill for melting down old rails and making new ones. These rumors were primarily fed by business interests in Cheyenne.  The Cheyenne Leader newspaper assured readers in September that the rolling mill would be built there the next summer.
That did not happen. The railroad surveyed several locations for its mill and, enticed by an $18,000 subsidy offered by the Laramie government, announced in early September 1874 that the mill would be located in the Gem City.
Rolling mills need a lot of good quality water to operate and Laramie’s City Spring water right of 1868 could offer that. Immediately the city amended its right with the territory board of control to include building a pipeline from City Springs through town to the rolling mill site, where the Safeway Plaza is now located.
CLEAN WATER GUARANTEED
As part of the agreement with the railroad, citizens were to receive water from the pipeline. Judge John Kingman drew up the contract on September 9, 1874 and according to a paper written by former Laramie city engineer Elmer K. Nelson, the city ceded first right of the water from City Springs to the railroad on the September 14.
Within three days Union Pacific’s rolling mill project manager, Joseph Richardson, was surveying the path for the 12-inch pipe. The Laramie Independent newspaper praised the pipe chosen for the line, “iron tubes" coated with cement making them "impervious to the action of water.”
Early the next week, city officials began conferring with Richardson about locations for “fire plugs” which was one of the main selling points of the agreement. Fire plugs were greatly desired in a city made almost entirely of wooden buildings and also subject to high winds.
WATER WORKS CONSTRUCTION
Richardson’s survey route took the pipe down South B St. (now Grand Ave.) to Second St. where it formed a “T” with one branch running north to the site of the rolling mill and the other west to a fire plug near the south end of the Union Pacific Hotel.
By early November, 1874, one-half mile of pipeline was completed and after a brief strike over a reduction in pay, by December 2nd workmen were laying pipe past the courthouse at 5th St. and Grand Ave. Where the work was the least difficult, 750 feet of pipe were placed in the ground in two days.
The Daily Sun reported on March 21, 1875, that water had been turned into the pipes at the rolling mill to “see how the machinery would operate.” So, the UPRR now had what it wanted and it was up to Laramie residents to complete the work to get water to their homes.
WHO WILL PAY FOR WATER SYSTEM?
The main pipeline, the fire plugs and the laterals were referred to as “water works”. The water was pure enough that it did not have to be treated and the change in elevation steep enough that no pumps were needed.
The initial issue that came to the fore was who would pay for the installation of the “laterals” which branched off the main pipeline. The city had already levied a property tax which would have helped pay for the water works.
To gauge public opinion a city wide meeting was called on April 3, 1875. Unfortunately, the results of the meeting are not known, but that same day editor Hayford of the Sentinel made the reasonable argument that whoever could run the water works at the lowest cost should be allowed to do so.
The next day, Laramie City Council member George Fox wrote a lengthy letter to the Sun extoling the virtues of a privately run operation. One of his main points was residents were not paying taxes on their real estate to support laying the lines required to support the water works.
Resident Edward Ivinson created a completely different problem when he sued the city over the property tax that was to fund the water works. He argued that deeds to property in the city were not clear because both the railroad and Fort Sanders claimed they had title to the land. Since he did not “own” the land he had paid the railroad for, he argued that it could not be taxed. The court eventually sided with Ivinson but the issue was not completely resolved until a vote in Congress clarified the situation by reducing the size of the military fort.
FIRE PROTECTION A BONUS
The city apparently took over the task of funding its part of the water system and levied a 1 percent additional tax on property on July 15th. This ensured the fire plugs would be paid for and indeed they were tested successfully on August 30th when a 1000-foot long hose with a one and one-quarter nozzle shot a stream of water 80 feet into the air.
That did not solve the problem of who would pay for connecting residences and businesses to the main line. The Union Pacific stated that residents could have the water for free but that they would have to pay for installation, which the railroad would do at cost.
Soon enough money was forthcoming to install numerous laterals, but not before the system suffered its first burst pipe on December 28, 1875, near the Union Pacific Hotel. That was rapidly repaired, likely by two men, Morgan Knadler and P. McCarthy who were listed in the 1875 city director as maintaining the water works. Through the next year water lines were laid into the court house at the cost of $627.00, and north and south along Second and Third Sts.
CITIZENS PAY TO CONNECT
A typical example of how businesses were supplied with water was documented in August of 1877. Businesses owned by George Fox (grocery store), B. F. Smith (building contractor) and G.W. Lancaster (harness maker) raised enough money to supply water to the two blocks bounded by Front, Third, South B (Grand Ave) and South C (Garfield) Streets. 
The 1885 map of Laramie by city engineer F. Whiting shows the main lines and the laterals that served residents. Water pipes by that year were put in as far south as Kearney and north to Clark Streets and along Grand from First St. to Tenth St. An additional line was laid to Greenhill Cemetery and numerous fire plugs were placed along Grand Ave. and in the downtown business district.
MORE WATER NEEDED
That first system using water from City Springs was enough to serve the city’s needs for many years. As the population increased from 800 residents in 1870 to approximately 8000 in 1900, the need for additional sources of water was recognized. In 1888 attorney Stephen Wheeler Downey secured the water rights of Soldier Spring south of town for use by the city. In 1914, a 14-inch water pipe was laid from the spring to town.
Over the ensuing years as the population further increased the city also tapped Pope Spring, the Laramie River, Turner Tract wells, and the Spur Wellfield to ensure the clean and plentiful supply which we enjoy today.

© 2020 Morris A. Pierce