Davenport Water Co. Pumping Station No. 2

The Davenport Water Co. Pumping Station No. 2 is located in central Davenport, Iowa, United States. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. It is also known as the Ripley Street Pumping Station No. 2.

History

Unlike most other municipalities in Iowa, Davenport has always had a privately run water company.^[2] A waterworks was first proposed for the city in 1856. However, the Davenport Water Company was not formed until 1873 under the leadership of Michael P. Donahue, who was granted an exclusive franchise with the city. Initially, they installed 20 miles (32 km) of water mains and 245 hydrants throughout the city.^[2] The system was used to fight its first fire in 1874 and it was promoted as a way to fight cholera.

There were some problems with the new water system in Davenport. Water pressure was significantly lowered if the hydrants were used to fight a fire. In 1884 the company built the Ripley Street Pumping Station No. 2. The facility had a reservoir that can hold 5 million US gallons (19,000 m³) of water.^[2] The pumping system was operated by a vertical set of compound Clapp and Jones Pumps and a set of Duplex Gordon Steam Pumps.^[2]

By 1892 the company had expanded the water system to 37 miles (60 km) of water mains and 400 hydrants.^[2] A mechanical filtering system installed the previous year helped make the company’s product more saleable and more properties in the city were converted from private wells. Another pumping station was built around the turn of the 20th century along East River Drive near the Village of East Davenport.

See also

• The Donahue Building, which served as the headquarters for the Davenport Water Company from the early 1890s to about 1910.

Other properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Davenport that relates to a utility companies:

• Union Electric Telephone & Telegraph
• American Telegraph & Telephone Co. Building

References

External links

• Archiplanet Listing