The Scituate Reservoir

by Raymond A. Wolf

Overview

In 1772, portions of Providence received water through a system of hollowed out logs. By 1869, seventeen years after Zachariah Allen campaigned for a public water supply, the public voted in favor of introducing water into the city from the Pawtuxet River in Cranston. By 1900, it was clear that more, purer water was needed. A public law was approved on April 21, 1915, creating the Providence Water Supply Board and granting the power to condemn 14,800 acres to create the Situate Reservoir. Today the reservoir is the largest inland body of water in Rhode Island, supplying over 40 billion gallons of water to residents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738573809
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	10/11/2010
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	1,132,377
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Raymond A. Wolf is a native of Scituate residing in the village of Hope. He is a member of the Pawtuxet Valley Preservation Society, Hope Historical Society, Scituate Preservation Society, and Rhode Island Historical Society. Through extensive research at the Providence Water Supply archives, he has compiled volumes of information on the creation of the Scituate Reservoir.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 6

Introduction 7

1 Creating a New Resting Place 9

2 Creating New Roads 23

3 Creating the Ashland Causeway 39

4 Creating Horse Shoe Dam 49

5 Creating the Spillway and Bridge 55

6 Creating the Gainer Dam and Dike 67

7 Creating the Pipeline and Purification Works 91

8 Creating the Tunnel and Aqueduct 107

9 Creating a Reservoir 117