The Longmeadow Waterworks

In 1894, Longmeadow was poised to begin its rapid expansion from a small farming community to the fully built-up suburb of today. Streetcar trolley tracks were being laid the length of Longmeadow Street and farmland was being sold to housing developers, both measures enabling people to work in Springfield while living in Longmeadow. Town records for the next decades reflect officials’ busy efforts to create the infrastructure needed to support both the existing and the new sections of town.

One of their concerns was the sufficiency of water supplies to support both drinking water and firefighting efforts. A committee was formed to explore available options; this committee recommended using water from the existing mill pond (today, part of the Longmeadow Country Club). At a contentious “long town-meeting” in early September, this solution was rejected and the town voted instead to acquire water from Thompsonville, Connecticut. After the town meeting, officials quickly determined that Thompsonville did not have the capacity to provide for Longmeadow’s water needs. Another town meeting was quickly held on October 4 and the town decided on a third solution - creating its own water facility by damming up Cooley Brook.

The new waterworks on Cooley Brook included a dammed pond, a screen, a steam pump, a water tower, a standpipe storage tank, and an engineer’s house.

The newly established Water Board reported in the 1894-1895 Annual Report that “we believe unhesitatingly that the Town has a sufficient supply of the best of spring water to serve a place of three times the population…”

The Water Board, however, was overly optimistic and additional facilities were soon needed. In 1911, the town voted unanimously to build a new pumping station and a new concrete reservoir.

Yet, even this new capacity was insufficient to provide for the burgeoning town’s drinking water and firefighting needs. In 1926, the town voted to join the Springfield water system and the waterworks were abandoned. 

In 1934, Longmeadow transferred the Water Commission lands to the Parks Department. Having no need for a waterworks facility, the Parks Department either removed or repurposed the existing buildings. 

The concrete reservoir built in 1911 became the town swimming hole, known to all as “The Pump”. It served this purpose until 1954 when the wading pool portion of The Pump collapsed into a sinkhole. Thankfully for children who wished to swim, the nearby pools at Bliss Park were nearing completion. 

The brick pumping station was repurposed as bath houses for children using The Pump. 

• The water tower, which loomed 105 feet over the surrounding neighborhood, was slated for demolition, a process more challenging than expected. The initial attempt to dismantle it on July 25, 1936 was unsuccessful.

For nine days, The Springfield Republican cheerfully reported on the durability of the tower which simply refused to fall. No longer capable of storing water, the tower had become home to a flock of pigeons. Because of the tower’s close proximity to St. Andrew’s Church and the swimming pool, the demolition contractor was hesitant to use destructive technology such as dynamite. Finally, on August 3, the tower fell, forcing all of those pigeons to find new lodging.

Today, Laurel and Bliss Parks are on the land of the former waterworks. Though most of the waterworks has disappeared, traces remain if you know where to look. The western dam of Laurel Pond was originally the dam of the 1895 reservoir, and portions of the 1911 concrete reservoir are still visible in the pond. Another remnant, the plate listing the initial Water Board (originally attached to the water tower), is now part of the collections of the Longmeadow Historical Society.

Originally published May 23, 2024

Sources:

Archives of the Longmeadow Historical Society

Springfield Republican: September 6, 1894; October 5, 1894; July 26, 1936; July 30, 1936; August 1, 1936; August 4, 1936

Enhancing Ecology in the Heart of Longmeadow: Two Visions for Bliss and Laurel Parks

Revitalizing Cooley Brook in Bliss and Laurel Parks, Savannah Bailey and Brett Towle, Spring 2023

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Longmeadow, Hampden County, Massachusetts. Sanborn Map Company, Aug, 1924. Map

"Here, can you put this in your purse?"

Ask any woman you know, and she will confirm that someone has asked her to put something in her purse for them. Today’s purses can be quite large affairs, holding all manner of useful things like wallets, cell phones, tissues, coupons, pens, makeup, grocery lists and breath mints!

In time past, small purses, or “reticules” were used to hold a woman’s essentials. The dictionary defines “reticule” as a small woman’s purse, typically having a drawstring and often decorated with embroidery or beading. The Longmeadow Historical Society’s collections include several of these small purses. One notable example from the late 1830’s has a mourning scene complete with a cemetery plinth, made with tiny glass beads. These purses were made by first stringing the tiny beads onto a thread and then knitting them into place! Not being a knitter, the mind boggles at the miniscule work that was surely done by the light of a handy window or a candle!  These purses are typically finished with silk fabric. The heavy beads were a strain on the delicate silk, so few of these special bags survive. As time went on, larger beads became more available, which can be a clue to a purse’s age. 

This lovely beaded creation features a plinth such as would be commonly seen in a cemetery, with the letter “S” marked on it. This purse was donated by a Mrs. B. B. Stewart, so perhaps it descended in her husband’s family.

These beaded purses continued to be popular into the 20th century, although I doubt many of them are big enough to hold a cell phone!  This special remnant of women's history is currently on display at the Storrs House Museum as part of our exhibit, The Ages of Women.  Check out  our website for information on making an appointment or attending an Open House.  

Rev. Samuel Wolcott's Civil War Letter

"I have just returned from the front line, having really no business there..."

Early last fall, the Longmeadow Historical Society received a message from the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth, in Yarmouth Port, Mass. They had discovered a letter from Samuel Wolcott to Lucius Mellen. There was no apparent connection to their archives or to the Cape Cod area, but the letter's author did have ties to Longmeadow. The Historic Society of Old Yarmouth generously donated the letter to the Longmeadow Historical Society. The letter gives a fascinating peek into a period of time in Wolcott's life after he left the area to serve another congregation as minister, and before his return to our community for his retirement. 

After some research, it became evident that on August 3, 1864, Rev. Samuel Wolcott wrote a letter to his friend Lucius Mellen in Cleveland, Ohio. Mellen, from Prescott, Massachusetts (one of the four towns taken to form Quabbin Reservoir), was the Superintendent of the City Missionary and Tract Society at the church and oversaw the local efforts to collect goods, supplies, medicine and clothing to send to the front lines during the Civil War.

On August 3rd, 1843, 30-year-old Samuel L. Wolcott was installed as the minister in First Congregational Church of Longmeadow. It was his first assignment after returning from missionary work in the Mideast. When he completed his term of service in 1847 he left Longmeadow for Belchertown, MA; followed by service in Providence, RI and Chicago, IL. Samuel was a descendant of Oliver Wolcott, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Unlike his ancestor, he was a staunch abolitionist. 

He arrived at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1862 in the midst of the Civil War. The church became known as “Plymouth” in 1852 at the suggestion of nationally-known abolitionist, Henry Ward Beecher, whose New York City church had the same name. The New York Plymouth Church was founded in 1847 by transplanted New Englanders who wanted a Congregational Church like those in which they had been raised, with a simple order of worship, governed by the congregation. 

The Rev. Samuel Wolcott regularly gave public speeches on the progress of the Civil War. When the YMCA and Protestant ministers formed the United States Christian Commission (USCC), one of the forerunners of the American Red Cross, Wolcott was among its more than five thousand volunteers.

In 1864, his 16-year-old son, Edward, enlisted in the Union Army. While still the pastor of the Plymouth Congregational Church, Rev. Wolcott volunteered as a USCC civilian. This meant he did not carry a weapon, but instead brought goods and supplies to the battlefield. As an abolitionist and a minister, he supported the Union soldiers, comforted the injured and, at times, buried the dead. He often received dictated letters from the soldiers and sent those on USCC stationary to families back home.

Headquarters of Christian Commission, Germantown, Va - © 2025 The National Museum of Civil War Medicine - CivilWarMed.org

Written on U.S. Christian Commission letterhead, Wolcott's letter to Lucius Mullen gives a unique insight to this former Longmeadow pastor's experience near the front lines of the battlefield. It reads as follows:

Near Atlanta, Ga.,

3 Aug 1864

Dear Bro. Mullen,

I have reported to you, as being of the Commission ,from time to time, my arrival at different points, & for a fortnight I have been waiting in these forests, about three miles from the city, hoping to be able to drop this ... from the above address and announce my entrance with the army into “The Gate City”.  That work is delayed. The enemy has made three assaults and met with three bloody repulses. He seems now to be waiting for an assault within his own strong entrenchments. If defended, they cannot be carried by storm without immense loss of life.

On my first visit to the front, our troops were resting behind the breastwork some miles distant from the foe, and I had a pleasant visit to the friends whom I wish to see. Lines invading Atlanta, the whole army has been in battle-line with constant firing between the pickets and the batteries occasionally deepening into general volleys. I have just returned from the front line, having really no business there, but have remained in the war area, its hospitals, among which a shell or shot occasionally falls. I cannot describe the scenes of battle & of bloodshed, of splendid bravery and awful agony, which have fallen upon my eye; if spared, I shall be able to give an imperfect report of my return. I have lodged most of the time by invitation with officers at headquarters. A part of the army is now moving to a new position & I am stopping in the tent of the Christian Commission. With kind regards to all, as ever

Yours truly, S. Wolcott 

Written four weeks before the final assault and evacuation of Atlanta on September 1st, 1864, this letter is a firsthand account of what was happening behind the Union “pickets” and “breastworks” during the Siege of Atlanta. Wolcott refers to Atlanta by its nickname, “The Gate City,” in quotes. He provides a vivid description of what the soldiers were experiencing and promises to give “an imperfect report” when he returns. He also refers to an “invitation with officers at headquarters.” His diary and biography later reveal the officer he refers to is General Joseph Hooker from Hadley, Massachusetts.

Rev. Samuel Wolcott returned to Cleveland after the war and remained pastor for another ten years until 1874, before ultimately retiring back in Longmeadow in 1882.

An important part of Wolcott's career was music. He wrote more than two hundred hymns including 1869's Christ For The World We Sing. Within two decades, the hymn was appearing in most protestant denominational hymnals in the U.S. and by the 1920s, it was included in hymnals in Great Britain. It remains popular today.

In 1884, back in Longmeadow, two of Reverend Wolcott’s sons, Henry and Edward Wolcott, had a house built for him within view of the “church on the green.” In 1883 he was one of the honored guests at the Longmeadow Centennial Celebration. In his address to the gathering he shared why he had such affection for Longmeadow and wanted to return here: “My own pastorate in this parish commenced forty years ago this autumn. If those were not the palmy days of the place, it certainly is not less true then than now, that it was the best specimen extant of preserved Puritanism. It is conspicuous in their deference toward their minister, whom they treated with thoughtful respect and courtesy.”

He lived in the house at 734 Longmeadow Street until his death on February 24, 1886.  His widow lived there until 1901 when it was sold to Edward Brewer in 1901, and later purchased by Ida Young. Young was known for throwing lavish social events at the estate, which she named Meadowview Farms. There are those who still refer to it as the Wolcott-Brewer-Young Mansion. Today, the former Wolcott home has been beautifully restored and renovated as rentable offices and workspaces. 

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Special thanks to Nancy Mumford and the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth for their generous donation of Rev. Samuel Wolcott’s Civil War letter to the Longmeadow Historical Society.

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Sources:

Hymnary.org https://hymnary.org/hymn/SoC1892/255

Longmeadow Historical Society archives

Lost New England - Derek Strahan

https://lostnewengland.com/2019/06/brewer-young-mansion-longmeadow-mass/

Proceedings at the Centennial Celebration of the Incorporation of the Town of Longmeadow, October 17th, 1883. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proceedings_at_the_Centennial_Celebratio/1mGEiuq3P4EC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=inauthor:%22Richard+Salter+Storrs%22&printsec=frontcover