"The Roads Are All Dug Up": Beginning of Branford Water Works

The following content is adapted from Ted Braun's book "The Barkers of Branford: Life in America Through A Local Lens". Details at www.BarkersOfBranford.com

(For article about "Electricity Dawns in Branford", see Branford Patch Neighbor Posts)

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Llewellyn Barker (1850-1937) lived a stone’s throw away from the action at 60 Mill Plain Road. In the spring of 1898 he wrote in his diary that he "went down to the power house to see about turning motor” possibly referring to the newly installed pump at the powerhouse. Later that year in the fall, "The water works are now begun and they are digging out the pipe. The road is all dug up for the water pipes".

A massive six-foot deep tank, half the size of a football field, was constructed on top of what is now Hickory Hill Rd and an electric pump was installed at the power company. The attached map illustrates the system. The Branford Supply Pond (1), a half-mile up-river from the power plant, provided the gravity fed water to the power plant (2). The Blake-Knowles pump, capable of moving a million gallons a day pushed the water to the top of the hill to fill the tank (3) with a capacity of 2.5 million gallons. Llewellyn Barker, a stone’s throw away (4), wrote in his diary on June 17th, 1899, "Edna took out folks up to the reservoir as they turned on water”. That same day, the following appeared in the Branford Opinion.

“Water In The Mains”
“Saturday afternoon, the pump at the powerhouse was started and water was pumped into the mains as far as Montowese street. When the mains were filled, the pumps commenced to feed the reservoir and the first water flowed in about 5 o’clock. The pumps were kept at work all night and more or less steadily all the week…..Last night there was over five feet of water in the reservoir.” The next week, the first customers tapped into the line."

Branford Opinion 7/1/1899

“The Branford water main was tapped for the first time Tuesday morning when B. F. Hosley made a connection with the residence of George Baldwin, at Branford Point. Connections were also made the same day by the Bradley Company for the Branford Point house and Oak cottage”

By 1903 there was the full extension of the mains to all neighborhoods. The local paper noted it as a major step forward for the fire service into the new century. “The (water) pressure will be great enough to obviate the use of a pumping engine for fire service.” For a community that had seen more than its share of fires in the century just ending, this was welcome news.

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Ted Braun's book "The Barkers of Branford: Life in America Through a Local Lens" is available for $30 at the Blackstone Library in Branford. Details at www.BarkersOfBranford.com