Waterworks Museum

Did you know that the Quabbin Reservoir, which today supplies water for the city of Boston, was once the largest reservoir in the world that was intended only for drinking water? With a size of 39 square miles, this massive piece of water infrastructure has a maximum capacity of 412 billion gallons of water. How long does it take to fill a reservoir that size? Nearly 7 years! While construction began in 1927 and water began flowing into the reservoir in 1939, it wasn't until June 22, 1946, that the Quabbin Reservoir reached its full capacity and water was released over the Winsor Dam Spillway for the first time. While today, more than 40% of Massachusetts residents (that's nearly 3 million people) enjoy bountiful safe water from this crucial water source, it's important to remember the sacrifices made by the residents of the towns of Prescott, Dana, Enfield, and Greenwich, around 2,500 of whom lost their homes during the construction of the reservoir.

June 11, 1921 was a very busy day here at the Chestnut Hill High Service Pumping Station! In preparation for the addition of a new steam engine, laborers were hard at work installing new vertical boilers, which had been manufactured by the D.M. Dillon Boiler Works in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Check out these photos captured by Waterworks photographer Oliver Tryon which document this important project!

You can learn more about the station's boilers during your next visit by exploring "The Power of Coal" exhibit located in our Overlook Gallery.

Images Courtesy of the Massachusetts Archives via Digital Commonwealth

It's Saturday again and we're only 2 weeks away from Waterfest! This week we'd like to highlight Mothers Out Front/Protect Newton Trees who will be joining us at Waterfest to talk with visitors about the importance of trees in our environment. During the event, they will be making tags that not only name the species of some of our local trees but also detail how much carbon dioxide they take in during photosynthesis. These tags will be distributed to trees all over the site giving a new understanding to how important plant life is to our planet's overall health. This information can even be used at home on trees in your local neighborhood!

Waterfest is a free event (suggested donation $5) and will take place rain or shine on June 20th from 10am to 2pm.

Please help us monitor capacity by reserving your tickets today!
https://waterworksmuseum.org/events/waterfest-6/

Images courtesy of Mothers Out Front/Protect Newton Trees
https://mothersoutfront.org/
https://www.protectnewtontrees.org/

It's World Bicycle Day! Did you know that the Chestnut Hill Reservoir was a popular biking destination more than 100 years ago? During the “cycling craze” of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, many folks from Boston and beyond would come to the reservoir to bike or even race! One type of early bicycle was called the penny-farthing or high wheeler. It had a unique design which featured one large wheel in the front and a much smaller wheel in the back. While popular, penny-farthings could be quite dangerous and, while there are those who still enjoy riding these unusual bicycles today, safety bicycles, which look more like modern bicycles, ultimately won out, as they presented a safer and more accessible alternative.

Image from the May 31, 1879 issue of Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
https://archive.org/details/ZUJaAAAAYAAJ/page/n411/mode/2up

It's Saturday, which means we're one week closer to Waterfest! This week we'd like to highlight another one of the awesome organizations who will be joining us on June 20th: Stone Living Lab! They're bringing their "Sea Level Rise City" activity, where you can explore the impacts of climate change on coastal communities like Boston. See what it's like to be an environmental scientist and engineer as you design and adapt your own coastal city, to create a more sustainable and climate resilient community!

Waterfest is a free event (suggested donation $5) and will take place rain or shine on June 20th from 10am to 2pm.

Please help us monitor capacity by reserving your tickets today!
https://waterworksmuseum.org/events/waterfest-6/

Image Credit: Siyu He of the Esplanade Association