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Downtown Tallahassee Florida Walking Tour
Item 14 of 14
The complex of unusually-shaped structures at the corner of Gadsden and Gaines is the Old City Waterworks. Before the complex was constructed in the 1890s, water was acquired from natural springs. The first well was dug in 1891 and was over 500 feet deep. The original wooden buildings were replaced in the early twentieth century by the brick structure still standing. The city bought the waterworks from the private company that had operated them in 1908. The complex closed in 1958 and the city used the buildings for storage and maintenance activities. The Old City Waterworks complex was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and is currently vacant, with boarded up windows.

West side of Old City Waterworks complex in 1976, view from northwest (DeHaney)

House, Cottage, Building, Home

South elevation along street in 1976 photo from Old City Waterworks NRHP nomination (DeHaney)

House, Property, Building, Home

West side of OldCity waterworks in 1976, view from southwest, cistern on left (DeHaney)

House, Home, Property, Cottage

Waterworks Complex on 1909 Sanborn map of Tallahassee; red=brick, yellow=wood (p. 2)

Text, Plan, Drawing, Line

Previous Waterworks Complex in 1895, all wood frame structures (Sanborn Map Company 1895:1)

Text, Line, Plan, Parallel

The Tallahassee Waterworks Company was incorporated in March 1889 under Mr. R.L. Bennett of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. along with George W. Saxon and Frederick T. Myers. The City of Tallahassee granted the firm exclusive privilege, for 99 years, of constructing, maintaining, and operating a waterworks for supplying "water for protection against fire and for domestic, sanitary, and other useful purposes." The company was given the sole right to "sink wells and lay water pipes and mains along any and all of the streets and avenues." The Tallahassee Waterworks began employing fifty workers at one dollar pay per day in the fall of 1889. The company "leased Houston's spring and surrounding property from Capt. P. Houston" and were putting in a water supply plant.

A local newspaper in May 1891 mentioned that "Mr. William Clary is getting ready to begin work on boring the artesian well for the Tallahassee Waterworks Company. He will sink it anyway 500 feet and perhaps a thousand or more -- to make an abundant supply of water sure." The contractor on the drilling project, J. Arthur Durst, reported in November that they had reached 500 feet and intended to dig another 100 feet, although the water supply was ample already, A crowd usually gathered to watch the drilling, marveling at the multitude of layers of soil and rock that were brought up; a local newspaper in September 1891 called the hole in the ground the "center of attraction in Tallahassee."

The original shelter built over the water pump was wood frame, as seen on the 1895 Sanborn map. The pump house was in the rear yard, to the north of a one-story, wood frame building containing a 50 horsepower engine. To the west of the main building was a large, round wooden covered cistern for water storage. The local government sought an injunction against the waterworks company when it declared a rate increase in 1901. The proposed rate of a minimum of $2.50 for residents using water was deemed to conflict with the original rights given to the firm. Mr. R.C. Miller was superintendent of both the Tallahassee Waterworks Company and the Capital City Light and Fuel Company by 1905. The City of Tallahassee bought the Waterworks and Gas companies from the Philadelphia syndicate in 1908. The city paid the American Pipe Manufacturing Company $75,000 for both plants. By 1909, the Sanborn map showed that the wooden pumphouse and main building had been replaced by a larger, brick building that extended further north of the original well to enclose a second deep well. The complex was electrified in 1917. By 1931, the complex contained five wells. The new, fifth well was in a separate building and was a different design, with a pump located 98 feet below the ground and an elevator to reach the pump.

The Old City Waterworks complex remained in use until 1958. The water had become unsafe for use due to pile driving activities to build high-rises in the city. Since the late 1950s and into the late 1970s or later, the City of Tallahassee retained ownership of the buildings and used them for storage or repair activities.

Anonymous. "Untitled." The Weekly Floridian (Tallahassee, FL) September 3rd 1889. Local news sec, 5-5.

Anonymous. "Mrs. Grundy Says." The Weekly Floridian (Tallahassee, FL) October 1st 1889. 8-8.

Anonymous. "Untitled." The Weekly Floridian (Tallahassee, FL) May 27th 1891. Local news sec, 5-5.

Anonymous. "Curbstone Chat." The Weekly Floridian (Tallahassee, FL) September 12th 1891. Local news sec, 5-5.

Anonymous. "The Artesian Well: An Abundant Supply of Pure Water Assured." The Weekly Floridian (Tallahassee, FL) November 28th 1891. Local news sec, 5-5.

Anonymous. "The Council Resists. Will Ask for Injunction Against Water Works Company." The Weekly Tallahassean (Tallahassee, FL) March 21st 1901. , 1-1.

Anonymous. "Untitled." The Weekly True Democrat (Tallahassee, FL) August 18th 1905. 1-1.

Anonymous. "Tallahassee Buys Gas and Water Works." The Pensacola Journal (Pensacola FL) October 22nd 1908. 7-7.

Bennett, R. L. "Notice of Incorporation." The Weekly Floridian (Tallahassee, FL) March 26th 1889, 8-8.

Carpenter, R.B. "An Ordinance." The Weekly Floridian (Tallahassee, FL) March 26th 1889, 8-8.

Scafidi, John. NRHP Nomination of Old City Waterworks. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1978.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/79000680

https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/79000680

https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn01351_005/

https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn01351_003/