North Birmingham Water Works: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:North Birmingham Water Works postcard.jpg|right|thumb| | [[Image:North Birmingham Water Works postcard.jpg|right|thumb|375px|Postcard view of the North Birmingham Water Works]] | ||
The '''North Birmingham Water Works''' was a municipal water works constructed in [[1873]] on [[Village Creek]] by the [[Birmingham Water Works Company]] for the newly-established city of [[Birmingham]]. It was designed by [[Elyton Land Company]] engineer [[Willis Milner]] to draw water from the creek by pump to fill a hilltop reservoir located between [[12th Avenue North|12th]] and [[14th Avenue North|14th Avenues]] and [[22nd Street North|22nd]] and [[23rd Street North|23rd Streets]]. The reservoir ponds supplied the city through underground gravity-fed pipelines. The [[Birmingham Rolling Mill]] and the [[Relay House]] hotel were two of the few properties to connect to the system as most residents still relied on wells. | The '''North Birmingham Water Works''' was a municipal water works constructed in [[1873]] on [[Village Creek]] by the [[Birmingham Water Works Company]] for the newly-established city of [[Birmingham]]. It was designed by [[Elyton Land Company]] engineer [[Willis Milner]] to draw water from the creek by pump to fill a hilltop reservoir located between [[12th Avenue North|12th]] and [[14th Avenue North|14th Avenues]] and [[22nd Street North|22nd]] and [[23rd Street North|23rd Streets]]. The reservoir ponds supplied the city through underground gravity-fed pipelines. The [[Birmingham Rolling Mill]] and the [[Relay House]] hotel were two of the few properties to connect to the system as most residents still relied on wells. | ||
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* {{White-1981}} | * {{White-1981}} | ||
* {{McMillan-1975}} | * {{McMillan-1975}} | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
* [http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=33.546188,-86.808558&spn=0.026897,0.021286&t=p&z=15&msid=100306886204118391430.000448fc7ecf017d52a37&iwloc=000448fcd8b43bf701fb0 Location] of North Birmingham Water Works on Google Maps | * [http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=33.546188,-86.808558&spn=0.026897,0.021286&t=p&z=15&msid=100306886204118391430.000448fc7ecf017d52a37&iwloc=000448fcd8b43bf701fb0 Location] of North Birmingham Water Works on Google Maps | ||
Revision as of 19:05, 24 May 2014
The North Birmingham Water Works was a municipal water works constructed in 1873 on Village Creek by the Birmingham Water Works Company for the newly-established city of Birmingham. It was designed by Elyton Land Company engineer Willis Milner to draw water from the creek by pump to fill a hilltop reservoir located between 12th and 14th Avenues and 22nd and 23rd Streets. The reservoir ponds supplied the city through underground gravity-fed pipelines. The Birmingham Rolling Mill and the Relay House hotel were two of the few properties to connect to the system as most residents still relied on wells.
By 1884 Village Creek was proving inadequate as a water source because of its limited flow and increasing levels of industrial pollution. The Elyton Company surveyed a canal from the headwaters of Five Mile Creek north of Tarrant to the pumping station. Construction continued for years, hampered by lawsuits from industries along Five Mile Creek. Meanwhile, the pumping station supplemented its reservoirs with water from artesian wells in the area until the canal finally opened in November 1887. 4 million gallons per day flowed alongside the present route of Jefferson Boulevard, which is also called Canal Avenue in Tarrant. New reservoir basins were excavated adjacent to the pump house, and were known locally as "Lake Placid."
This arrangement served all of the city's municipal water supply until a second pumping station was constructed at the Cahaba River in 1890. The North Birmingham station remained in service until 1938, after which it was demolished and its canal filled in.
References
- White, Marjorie Longenecker (1981) The Birmingham District: An Industrial History and Guide. Birmingham: Birmingham Historical Society ISBN 9990230099
- McMillan, Malcom C. (1975) Yesterday's Birmingham. Seamann's Historic Cities Series No. 18. Miami, Florida: E. A. Seamann Publishing ISBN 0912458402
External links
- Location of North Birmingham Water Works on Google Maps
- North Birmingham page by J. D. Weeks