History lessons flow from Old Water Works

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Within a few years, an historic brick building in LaPorte could become a very interesting tourist attraction. The Old Fort Collins Water Works, located on Overland Trail just south of Bingham Hill Road, is currently being repaired and stabilized, and new history lessons come to light with every turn of the spade.

David Budge of Fort Collins, a volunteer with the Poudre Landmarks Foundation, has been uncovering history at the 125-year-old facility for several years. The Old Water Works was placed on the Colorado Register of Historic Places in 1999, and eventually the PLF plans to have an interpretive center at the site. Budge, who was trained as a paleontologist, is currently overseeing a $120,000 stabilization project at the site, financed by the Colorado Historical Fund and PLF. PLF manages both the Old Water Works and the Avery House for Fort Collins.

The oldest water works building dates to 1882-83, when it was built to deliver the first piped water to Fort Collins. Initial cost of the project was $77,000. The impetus for providing city water came from two major fires in Fort Collins in the early 1880s, one that cost two lives. However, citizens were much the same as now in terms of coughing up tax money for city improvements. The first bond issue for the water works failed, and it took a second fire to get people's attention.

Even when the water works was up and running, persuading residents to subscribe to the new service was a hard sell. In 1884, there were only 132 public water users. "People had always drunk out of the stream. Why would you want a pipe?" Budge figures.

The water works was built adjacent to the Tailrace Ditch, and water from the ditch was diverted to a reservoir behind the building. The reservoir site is now merely a low spot on the property. From the reservoir, water flowed into the building for two purposes. Some of the water turned the turbines that powered the pumps, then flowed back into the ditch. Some went to pumps that propelled it through pipes to Fort Collins, providing water for both firefighting and household use. Over the past couple of years, during excavation of the oldest building at the site, the dual purpose of the water works as both a power plant and a water delivery system has become more apparent.

The water going to Fort Collins was not treated, but it was filtered to a degree. "They screened the logs and the dead horses out, and that was about it," Budge laughed.

Additions were built onto the water works in 1894 and 1895, and the facility served as Fort Collins' primary source of running water until 1905. It was replaced by a new water filtration plant on the North Fork of the Poudre River, where Gateway Mountain Park is now located. The water works continued to serve as a secondary filtration plant until 1916, when it was abandoned.

Teaching tool

When an interpretive center is eventually built, tourists with good imaginations -- and good guides--will be able to see much more than a brick building. "It's a tremendous teaching tool," Budge commented. The following are some areas of historical interest represented by the facility.

The advent of municipal water systems: Visitors will be able to envision life before running water, when Fort Collins residents got their drinking water from ditches, wells or the water wagon man, who drove his horse and buggy through the town selling water for 5 cents a bucket or 25 cents a barrel. People will be able to imagine huge fires in the downtown area, fought in vain with buckets because there were no hydrants. They will learn about devastating diseases such as typhoid, rampant in the United States in the 1880s and 1890s and a direct result of contaminated water.

Visitors will also learn that daily baths or showers have not always been a part of American culture. It wasn't until the 1850s that people started to associate dirty water with disease, and about that time folks in this country became more interested in regular bathing.

Architecture and industry: The Old Water Works, especially the original building, is a fine example of industrial gothic style (note the peaked roof and windows). It is unusual, Budge noted, to have such an old industrial facility still standing. Portland Cement, which was just being introduced in this country in the 1880s, was imported from England for use in the Old Water Works.

Natural history: For botanists, there are several points of interest. The water works property boasts the largest cottonwood tree in Fort Collins. At least 200 ground plants have been identified, and 20 percent of them are native to the area. Also, PLF members have saved apple trees from the original orchard on the property by grafting them onto new rootstock. The trees provide examples of apple varieties common in the late 19th century, including the Irish Peach and the Esopus Spitzenburg, Thomas Jefferson's favorite apple tree.

Travel: The Cherokee Branch of the Overland Trail passed through the water works property, as Budge discovered on old county road surveys. Several stage companies used this trail, the last of which was Wells Fargo. It was a busy road for commerce between 1858 and 1869, and tourists will be able to see old wagon ruts on the site.

Even though stabilization work is not complete, history buffs don't have to wait to see what has been uncovered so far. The Poudre Landmarks Foundation hosts two annual tours of the facility, in June and September.