Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1901-01-18
THE LARGEST WATER.WoRKs.
Boston to Possess the Greatest Reser-
voir in the World.

Voir in the World.
Operations are in progress to-day
near Boston which will ultimately give
to that city the proud distinction of
possessing the greatest reservoir of
pure drinking water in the world.
Few people, even those in and about
Boston, realize the enormous extent of
the new waterworks inaugurated in
1895.
1t will be even greater surprise for
them to learn that. when the system
now under construction is finished, not
only Boston. but also the cities of
Chelsea, Everett Maiden, Medford,
Newton and Somerville, and the
towns of Belmont, Hyde Park, Mel
rose, Revere, WateTtown and Win
throp, constituting what is known as
the Metropolitan Water District, will
be kept amply supplied with water,
notwithstanding the natural increase
in population until 1850.
To prove the gigantic nature of the
reservoir it is only necessary to state
that its capacity will reach the enor-
nous extent of 60 3,06S, ,0000 900 gallons,
or almost twice as much as the new
Croton reservoir near New York city.
The building of this reservoir means
the flooding of a valley thirty-two
miles from Boston, the complete or
partial submersion of two thriving
towns, and the changing of a we'll
known railways right of way through
the valley. The increased supply of
water to be derived from the Metro
politan district will be better under
stood when it is known that this new
Wachusett Reservoir will have more
than four times the capacity of all the
existing Boston Waterworks com
bined.
The site selected for Boston's new
reservoir is in one of the prettiest
counties of Western Massachusetts.
1t is about 35 miles northwest of
Boston and about seven miles north
east of Worcester. The contour of the
valley, broad here and there, narrow
ing to almost a gulch near Clinton,
seems fitted by nature for Just such
usage.
When it is estimated that a total of
5163 acres were to be taken from the
different towns in the valley, to wit:
Clinton, 1925 acres; Boylston, 2761
acres; West BoylstOn. $40 acres; and
that the land required for the reser-
voir contained six large mills, eight
school houses. four churches, 800
dwelling houses. large Catholic GEM
| etery and a railroad. all of which it
was necessary to remove the board
simply made plans for the work, as a
farmer would make plans for ridding
a newly acquired strip of land of OBJ
| structing stumps and rocks.
Three principal features in connec-
tion with the construction of the res
ervoir are the removal of six and a
half miles of the Central Massachu-
setts railroad and the relocation upon
the side of the reservoir. the destruc-
tion or removal partial or complete,
of the towns already mentioned, and
the building of the great dam at Clin-
| ton. OF these three possibly the ques-
tion of changing the railway bed is the
| least important although it is an
event worthy of note.
The work presenting the greatest
! picturesque feature in the construc
! tion of the Wachusett reservoir is the
| demolition of West BoylstOn and Oak
| dale. Both these places were thriv
| ing towns with important woolen-mill
! interests. They had existed for a
| number of years, and were growing
! slowly but with the steadiness of New
! England towns. They were model
/
| zens God-fearing and upright.
When the news came to the good
| people of Oakdale and West Boylston
that the City as they call Boston
was about to reach out like an octo-
pus of the deep and devour their little
communities, they were 10th to believe
| il. And when it was understood that
| their homes. their hearth-stones and
| the graves of their fathers were to be
covered forever by the waters of a
great reservoir, they rebelled.
The fact that the State fully intend
ed to make adequate financial resti-
tuition offered no balm. No amount
of money could Offset the heart break
AT leaving the spot where a family
had been rooted for a century. 1t was
some time before the people of West
Boylston and of Oakdale became re-
conciled to their impending eviction,
as it might be called.