1879 Houston Waterworks | |
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| Location | 27 Artesian St., Houston, Texas |
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| Coordinates | 29°45′50″N95°22′10″W / 29.76389°N 95.36944°W Coordinates: 29°45′50″N95°22′10″W / 29.76389°N 95.36944°W |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
| Built | 1879 |
| Architect | Houston Waterworks Co. |
| NRHP reference No. | 76002037 [1] |
| TSAL No. | 324 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | May 6, 1976 |
| Designated TSAL | 5/28/1981 |
1879 Houston Waterworks is a building located in Houston, Texas listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [1]
The Houston Water Works Company was established by a group of New York investors and entered a franchise agreement with the city of Houston in 1878. The company constructed a dam just upstream from Capitol Avenue, a processing plant on Artesian Street, and connected pipes to the city system. [2] The Houston Waterworks Company pumped about 2 million gallons of water from the Buffalo Bayou daily when it was founded in 1879 to extinguish fires, such as the one that broke out on Main Street a few days after the plant was erected. After natural reserves of drinking water were discovered in Houston, the Waterworks company out-competed local wells. [3]
T. H. Scanlan and Associates acquired the Houston Water Works Company and its franchise in 1884. New ownership made capital improvements — including a new boiler, pumps, and a reservoir — increasing the daily capacity to eight million gallons. Even these improvements were not sufficient to provide enough pressure to every point in the city, and sometimes the system failed at extinguishing fires. In 1887 a new well at Franklin and LaBranch revealed a large natural reservoir, and a total of fourteen wells were added by 1891. [2]
The city took over the plant in the early 20th century when it found that the Houston Water Works was mixing bayou water into the drinking supply. [3] In 1903, one water pipe was obstructed by a three-foot eel. Three years later, a broken water main gushed water with a supply of catfish. Both events elicited jokes about how the Houston artesian wells were home to schools of eel and catfish. Mayor Horace Baldwin Rice and Houston City Council studied the inventory of Houston infrastructure and concluded that it was inadequate to provide for the needs of its residents. The city assumed control of the Water Works by purchasing the system from Thomas Howe Scanlan's partnership for about $900,000. In addition to the water plant, the city acquired the system's 65 miles of water mains and its 55 wells. [4]
In 1975, few remains of this facility were extant. There was a masonry reservoir with a concrete cover and some possible remains of the foundation for the old pump house. These are located on the same grounds as the 1926 Bayou Pumping Station. [5]
Buffalo Bayou is a slow moving body of water which flows through Houston in Harris County, Texas. Formed 18,000 years ago, it has its source in the prairie surrounding Katy, Fort Bend County, and flows approximately 53 miles (85 km) east through the Houston Ship Channel into Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to drainage water impounded and released by the Addicks and Barker reservoirs, the bayou is fed by natural springs, surface runoff, and several significant tributary bayous, including White Oak Bayou, Greens Bayou, and Brays Bayou. Additionally, Buffalo Bayou is considered a tidal river downstream of a point 440 yards (400 m) west of the Shepherd Drive bridge in west-central Houston.
The Louisville Water Company is a water company based in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Fairmount Water Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was Philadelphia's second municipal waterworks. Designed in 1812 by Frederick Graff and built between 1812 and 1872, it operated until 1909, winning praise for its design and becoming a popular tourist attraction. It now houses a restaurant and an interpretive center that explains the waterworks' purpose and local watershed history. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its architecture and its engineering innovations. It was the nation's first water supply to use paddle wheels to move water.
Bristol Water supplies 266 million litres of drinking water daily to over 1.2 million customers in a 2,600 km2 (1,000 sq mi) area centred on Bristol, England. It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991. Sewerage services in the Bristol area are provided by Wessex Water.
Ridgewood Reservoir is a decommissioned 19th century reservoir and freshwater wetland that sits on the Brooklyn–Queens border in New York City, within what is now Highland Park. Although the reservoir was originally built to secure a reliable water supply for the City of Brooklyn, it is positioned on the Queens side of the border in the neighborhood of Glendale. The reservoir and park are bounded on the north by the Jackie Robinson Parkway, on the south by Highland Boulevard, on the west by Vermont Place and on the east by Cypress Hills National Cemetery.
London's water supply infrastructure has developed over the centuries in line with the expansion of London. For much of London's history, private companies supplied fresh water to various parts of London from wells, the River Thames and in the three centuries after the construction in 1613 of the New River, the River Lea, which has springs that divert alongside Hertford at an elevation of 40 metres AOD. Further demand prompted new conduits and sources, particularly in the 150 years to 1900 as the Agricultural and Industrial Revolution caused a boom in London's population and housing.
The Shreveport Waterworks Pumping Station, also known as the McNeil Street Pump Station, is a historic water pumping station at 142 North Common Street in Shreveport, Louisiana. Now hosting the Shreveport Water Works Museum, it exhibits in situ a century's worth of water pumping equipment, and was the nation's last steam-powered waterworks facility when it was shut down in 1980.
The Bethlehem Waterworks, also known as the Old Waterworks or 1762 Waterworks, is believed to be the oldest pump-powered public water supply in what is now the United States. The pumphouse, which includes original and replica equipment, is located in the Colonial Industrial Quarter of downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, between the Monocacy Creek and Main Street. It was declared a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1971, an American Water Landmark in 1971, and a National Historic Landmark in 1981. The building is a contributing property to the Historic Moravian Bethlehem Historic District which was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 2012 and later named to the U.S. Tentative List in 2016 for nomination to the World Heritage List.
Fall River Waterworks is a 22-acre (8.9 ha) historic site located at the eastern end Bedford Street in Fall River, Massachusetts, along the shore of North Watuppa Pond. The property, which is still used as a water works for the city, contains the original pumping station, intake house and 121-foot (37 m) tall standpipe water tower. The system was originally built between 1872 and 1875, and expanded or upgraded many times. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The Birmingham Corporation Water Department was responsible for the supply of water to Birmingham, England, from 1876 to 1974. It was also known as Birmingham Corporation Waterworks Department.
The City of Nottingham Water Department (1912–1974), formerly the Nottingham Corporation Water Department (1880–1912), was responsible for the supply of water to Nottingham from 1880 to 1974. The first water supply company in the town was the Nottingham Waterworks Company, established in 1696, which took water from the River Leen, and later from springs at Scotholme, when the river became polluted. Other companies were set up in the late 18th century and in 1824, while in 1826 the Trent Water Company was established. They employed Thomas Hawksley as their engineer, who became one of the great water engineers of the period, and Nottingham had the first constant pressurised water supply system in the country. The various companies amalgamated in 1845, and Hawksley remained as the consulting engineer until 1879.
The Chillicothe Water and Power Company Pumping Station is a historic building on the northern side of Chillicothe, Ohio, United States. A Gothic Revival structure built in 1881, it was constructed to house the city's waterworks and power plant. Its architecture and its location in Yoctangee Park was chosen specifically in order to beautify the park as well as to have a location near other elements of the city's first waterworks, which were built at the same time as the pumping station.
The Davenport Water Co. Pumping Station No. 2, also known as the Ripley Street Pumping Station No. 2, is located in central Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. The historic building has subsequently been replaced in 1986 by a smaller plain structure on the same property facing West 14th Street.
The Benton Stone Water Tower is located in Benton, Wisconsin. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The Evansville Standpipe is a historic water tower located in Evansville, Wisconsin. The 80-ft tall steel tower was built in 1901 by the Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, as part of the development of the local water supply system, spurred on by a devastating fire in 1896 that destroyed a large section of downtown Evansville. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Essex and Suffolk Water is a water supply company in the United Kingdom. It operates in two geographically distinct areas, one serving parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the other serving parts of Essex and Greater London. The total population served is 1.8 million. Essex and Suffolk is a 'water only' supplier, with sewerage services provided by Anglian Water and Thames Water within its areas of supply. It is part of the Northumbrian Water Group.
Jersey City Reservoir No. 3 is a decommissioned reservoir atop Bergen Hill in the Heights of Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated on approximately 13.8 acres (5.6 ha) just south of Pershing Field. It was built between 1871 and 1874 as part of the city's waterworks system designed to provide potable water to the city, including Ellis Island. Its perimeter wall is in the Egyptian Revival style and pump stations are in the Romanesque Revival style. The reservoir provided drinking water until the 1980s, when it was drained and abandoned for a larger reservoir at the Boonton Gorge. Since that time, a mini-ecosystem has taken root behind the thick, 20-foot tall stone walls: trees, wildflowers, swans, great blue heron, peregrine falcons, and at the center a 6-acre lake. This urban wildlife preserve hosts numerous animal and plant species not otherwise found in an urban environment. It was listed on the state and the federal registers of historic places in 2012. Nearby Reservoir No. 1 was located on either side of Summit Avenue and has been demolished.
The City of Beloit Waterworks and Pump Station was built in 1885 in Beloit, Wisconsin just below a hill on top of which sits the Beloit Water Tower. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
The San Jacinto Street Bridge is a viaduct which crosses Buffalo Bayou in Houston, Texas. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This bridge was built in 1914 to replace an iron pivot bridge of 1883 origin, and rehabilitated in 1997. It is a transportation conduit connecting downtown and the historical Fifth Ward.
Towering over the City of Bunnell is the city's most visible and iconic landmark: the City of Bunnell elevated steel water tower. The water tower is located at 100 Utility Street, Bunnell, FL 32110. It was built in 1926 by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company as part of a new waterworks system for Bunnell that went into operation in December 1927 and has been providing water to residents and local businesses to this day. The water tower is 110 feet high and its elevated steel tank holds 75,000 gallons of water. The elevated steel water tank has a conical top, Horton hemispherical bottom and is supported by four steel columns (legs) and reinforced with steel cross braces. The east and west sides of the elevated tank have black painted signage that read “City of Bunnell, Crossroads of Flagler County”
