Documentary History of American Water-works

Ownership and Financing of American Water-Works

Water Works Owned by Public Entities

Most early water works were owned by private companies, but over time cities bought these systems or built their own. The following systems were owned by a public entity, which was usually a village, city, or town. This list does not includes many small systems used for fire protection, or those that purchased water from another entity, either public or private.

#	Year	City	State	Comments
1	1801	Philadelphia	PA
2	1802	Beaver Borough	PA	Costs paid by general taxes, no charge for water.
3	1808	Bellefonte	PA
4	1808	Winchester	VA
5	1809	Rebersburg	PA
6	1810	Wilmington	DE
7	1817	Newburgh	NY
8	1823	Leesburg	VA
9	1823	New Orleans	LA	City bought uncompleted Latrobe system in 1821 and operated it from 1823 until the Commercial Bank started up a new system in 1836.
10	1828	Pittsburgh	PA
11	1829	Richmond	VA
12	1829	Lynchburg	VA	Town built new system to replace inadequate private works.
13	1830	Nashville	TN
14	1830	Pearisburg	VA
15	1832	Troy	NY
16	1833	Murfreesboro	TN	First system used a horse to draw barrels of water to an elevated reservoir, which was abandoned after a short time.
17	1833	Lexington	VA
18	1834	Wheeling	WV
19	1835	Columbia	SC	The City bought the system that Abram Blanding had built, but apparently never paid him for it.
20	1835	St. Louis	MO	The City bought the system built by John C. Wilson and Abraham Fox
21	1835	Poughkeepsie	NY
22	1836	Frederick	MD	City bought Frederick Water Company at a Sheriff's Auction.
23	1836	Detroit	MI	City purchased the Detroit Hydraulic Company.
24	1837	Lancaster	PA
25	1837	Steubenville	OH
26	1839	Cincinnati	OH	City purchased the Cincinnati Water Company.
27	1840	Lisbon	OH
28	1841	Erie	PA
29	1841	Harrisburg	PA
30	1842	New York City	NY	Built Croton Aqueduct to supply the city, did not buy the existing Manhattan Company System.
31	1842	Zanesville	OH
32	1843	Staunton	VA
33	1844	Northern Liberties	PA	Spring Garden and Northern Liberties built their own water works in 1844 to avoid paying the high costs offered by Philadelphia. This system was consolidated into the City of Philadelphia in 1854.
34	1844	Spring Garden	PA
35	1845	Geneseo	NY
36	1847	Saratoga Springs	NY
37	1847	Honolulu	HI
38	1848	Boston	MA	City built Cochituate Aqueduct to supply the city and bought the Aqueduct Corporation.
39	1848	Worcester	MA	City purchased the Worcester Aqueduct Company.
40	1849	Allegheny	PA
41	1850	Albany	NY	Bought the Albany Water Works Company.
42	1851	Kensington	PA	Kensington built its own water works in 1851 as the supply from Spring Garden was inadequate. To Philadelphia in 1854.
43	1851	Kalamazoo	MI
44	1851	Tamaqua	PA
45	1852	Madison	IN	City purchased the Madison and Clifton Water Works.
46	1852	Whitehall	NY
47	1853	Watertown	NY
48	1854	Sacramento	CA
49	1854	Savannah	GA
50	1854	Chicago	IL	Built new system, bought the existing Chicago Hydraulic Company works.
51	1854	Baltimore	MD	City bought the Baltimore Water Company.
52	1854	Jersey City	NJ
53	1855	Hartford	CT
54	1855	Plymouth	MA	Town purchased the Plymouth Aqueduct.
55	1856	Pittsfield	MA	The Pittsfield Fire District built a system which was acquired by the city in 1892. This was the first system built by a special district.
56	1856	Charlottesville	VA
57	1856	Cleveland	OH
58	1857	Rutland	VT	The Rutland Water Company was leased by the Village of Rutland for one thousand years.
59	1857	Petersburg	VA	The city built a new system; did not buy the Petersburg Aqueduct Corporation.
60	1857	Cohoes	NY	The city built new works and bought the works of the Cohoes Company.
61	1857	New Britain	CT
62	1858	Huntsville	AL	The city bought the system built by Hunter Peel and expanded by Dr. Thomas Fearn.
63	1858	Hoboken	NJ
64	1858	Brooklyn	NY	City acquired the Nassau Water Company, which was building works.
65	1859	Georgetown	DC	City distributed water from the Washington Aqueduct
66	1859	Washington	DC	City distributed water from the Washington Aqueduct.
67	1859	Trenton	NJ	City bought the Trenton Water Works Company.
68	1860	Newark	NJ	City purchased the property of the Newark Aqueduct Company.
69	1860	Danbury	CT
70	1861	Augusta	GA
71	1862	Winchester	CT	Merged with the town of Winsted in 1915.
72	1864	Charlestown	MA
73	1865	Cambridge	MA	City bought the Cambridge Water Works Company.
74	1865	Reading	PA	City bought the Reading Water Company.
75	1865	Chattanooga	TN	Built by the Union Army in 1865, sold to a private company around 1867.