Waterworks Museum Hosts Explorers

Boston -- The Metropolitan Waterworks Museum is taking a novel approach to being a hidden gem in Boston...it's throwing a party!

Open since 2011, the Waterworks Museum has been building its audience and finding its place among a number of excellent local institutions. Partnering with the founders of the popular web catalogue of global travel destinations called AtlasObscura.com for the launch of their first book seemed like a good fit.

Waterworks Executive Director Barbara C. Elfman commented, "The Atlas Obscura is full of hidden wonders for people to discover and enjoy. The Waterworks is one of those in Boston's own backyard!"

The party on the evening of Wednesday, September 28, will bring together the website founders Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras, along with co-author Ella Morton, for a VIP reception and book signing in the Waterworks Great Engines Hall. Tickets, ranging from $20 for general admission to $75 for an author meet and greet, are available through the Waterworks website and Eventbrite. Event admission plus a copy of the book is bundled for $35. All proceeds go toward supporting the Waterworks Museum, the nonprofit organization that preserves and interprets Boston's legacy of water science, engineering, and technology.

While the Waterworks is a bit of a hidden gem, the Atlas has been receiving visible praise from A-listers like Lena Dunham, Guillermo del Toro, and Neil Gaiman, who follow the newest and wildest postings from Obscura contributors. The website, and now the book, highlight numerous unique locations across the globe. Places like the Glowworm Caves of New Zealand or the site of the fire that has been burning in the Turkmenistan desert for over 40 years are awaiting intrepid travelers -- or internet surfers -- to explore.

According to fans of the museum, the Waterworks itself is one of those wondrous spots, right by the Chestnut Hill Reservoir at the end of the Greet Line.

Dubbed “The Cathedral of Steam Technology,” the building served originally as the high service pumping station that delivered clean, safe drinking water into the heart of 19th century Boston. Built in response to the Great Fire of 1872, the Waterworks was the hub of a complex system that included reservoirs, aqueducts, and water towers, eventually becoming part of the Metropolitan Water Resources Authority.

Remarkably, the Waterworks served Boston from the 1880's right up into the 1970's, when the facility was decommissioned. A grassroots effort in 1991 worked to rescue the abandoned building from destruction, and in 2009, the Waterworks Museum was formed.

Today, the museum preserves three original, steam engines that pumped tens of millions of gallons of water into Boston. The historic building, designed in the Romanesque style of H.H. Richardson, was built by Boston City Architects Arthur H. Vinal in 1888, and enlarged by Edmund March Wheelwright in 1897. The structure was constructed near the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, part of the pastoral park and carriageway influenced by the Olmstead brothers’ landscape designs. Turn of the century engineer and microbiologist George C. Whipple, later co-founder of the Harvard School of Public Health, and chemist Ellen Swallow Richards, the first woman admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a pioneer of water quality testing, are among the notable contributors to the Waterworks legacy.

"The Waterworks is not only a fantastic place to visit, but it's also a place to learn more about current conversations on water in terms of public health and urban development. The facility was built more than 130 years ago partly because our rapidly growing city needed clean, safe drinking water - a topic again in the public eye because of Flint, Michigan," said Suanna Crowley, Manager of Outreach & Development for the museum.

Elfman echoed that point, saying "While we love Atlas Obscura joining us on September 28, we want people to know that we are a community resource for education, particularly in the STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] fields. We have a unique capacity to partner with educators and students on these issues and engage our visitors on a topic of universal importance - water!"

More about the September 28 event with AtlasObscura.com and other information about the museum, its history, and collections can be found at the Waterworks website www.WaterworksMuseum.org.