Next time you are getting lunch at Milano’s Pizza, look across the street and you’ll see a building with a concrete holding tank in front.
The holding tank has the city logo painted on it. That building also has a wooden structure on top that looks like an oil derrick. That tower was used to maintain the water wells inside the Dublin City Waterworks Pumping Station.
The original waterworks was built in 1911 and had 3 deep water wells powered by Cook deep well pumps. A large concrete reservoir was built to the north that could hold 10000 gallons of water.
An 8 inch water main was laid toward Patrick St. and supplied Dublin with water from this original pumping station. Maps show a railroad side track serviced the facility on the south side of the building.
In 1919 and 1920, work had continued on the Wichita Falls, Ranger & Fort Worth Railroad. After many delays, it was finally reaching Dublin. It would be the third railroad for the town, quite an achievement for us and a benefit too. Getting the newly laid track all the way to the train station (now the County Tax Office) on Grafton St. was a problem. There were buildings and the Dublin Waterworks in the way. Dublin needed a new larger pumping reservoir and the railroad needed to build their tracks through the waterworks property. The railroad and the city leaders must have found a compromise.
In the March 19, 1920 issue of the Dublin Progress & Telephone: “Work is now underway on the new reservoir for the waterworks in Dublin. The reservoir is being made by the Wichita Falls, Ranger & Fort Worth to take place of the old reservoir which stood in the right of way of the new road, necessitating its abandonment. The new reservoir is within a few feet of the water system to the east. Dirt from the excavation is being used on the dump of the new railroad.”
The newly constructed reservoir held 120,000 gallons of water. 8 inch water mains connected this new reservoir with the rebuilt old one. A new expansion to the Water Works building was added in 1923.
By 1934 the waterworks had 5 deep water wells about 350 feet deep. It also had 5 Cooke deep well steam pump heads, 1 Worthington steam pump 12“x7 1/2“ capacity 750 gallons per minute. Also 1 Blake steam pump 12“x7 1/2“ capacity 500 gallons per minute. A stand pipe had also been installed close to Mesquite Street that was 12’ x 60’ capacity 60,000 gallons at 37’ above the level of the business section. Average daily consumption 75,000 gallons.
The Dublin City Waterworks building served us well for 42 years during floods and droughts.
I remember in elementary school hearing a whistle blow just before lunch.
I was told later it was the City Waterworks.
The whistle was used to tell city workers when to break for lunch and when lunchtime was over. The power for the whistle came from the steam that powered the water pumps.
But times were changing. More people were moving into the Dublin area, so it became necessary to look for more sources of water to supply Dublin’s needs.
Proctor Lake had just been built and it seemed to be a long term solution to Dublin’s lack of water reserves. Working with other cities in the surrounding area, pipes were laid and new treated water was on its way to Dublin.
The Waterworks Pumping Station was no longer needed after water from Proctor Lake reached Dublin in 1965. The old building served Dublin well for those 54 years. It still serves as a reminder that great things can happen when we work to make Dublin a better place to live.