THE BLOOMSBURG WATER COMPANY

Circa 1900

       A group of nearly forty investors established the Bloomsburg Water Company on August 14, 1877 .   They built the plant north of the residential area on the west side of the Millville Road .   The Moyer Brothers, a local pharmaceutical business, well known for promoting town growth and civic improvements, owned 200 shares making it the single largest stockholder.   Rev. David J. Waller, a prominent member of the community, was the company’s first president from 1879 to 1880.   John Funston, local bank president, became the next president in 1880 and held the office until 1889.

       The picture shows the powerhouse and the home for the plant superintendent which was completed in 1880.   The source for the town’s water supply came from Fishing Creek that ran at the rear of the plant.   Henry D. Birkenbine, a civil engineer from Philadelphia , designed the plant in which water was diverted through a conduit to a brick lined well.   According to a newspaper account in 1894, there were three pumps in the powerhouse that had a daily capacity of pumping ten million gallons a distance of 1,100 feet to a reservoir on a hill 210 feet above the town.   Relying on gravity flow, there was sufficient pressure that allowed firemen to connect their hoses to a hydrant, without having to use an auxiliary pumper, to fight a fire.

       The powerhouse is still part of the water plant, but its exterior has been somewhat altered.   The large smokestack no longer exists.