Town almost loses Lake Quassapaug

#MiddleburyCT #LakeQuassapaug

The Wigwam Reservoir in Thomaston still exists. Completed in 1901, it covers 105 acres and has a capacity of 730 million gallons. (Middlebury Historical Society scan)

By DR. ROBERT L. RAFFORD

Part II of III – The controversy over the choice of a major new source of water for Waterbury extended from 1888 to 1892, threatening the peaceful resort of Lake Quassapaug. The major contenders emerging from interested parties were Hop Brook, Bantam Lake and Lake Quassapaug. The Waterbury Board of Water Commissioners favored Hop Brook; the editors of the “Waterbury Democrat” backed Bantam Lake. Waterbury’s Mayor Henry I. Boughton was initially behind the choice of Lake Quassapaug, but subsequently favored Bantam Lake.

Criticism was intense. An early 1889 editorial in the “Waterbury Evening Democrat” concluded that the almost $474,000 spent to date for various sources of water (about $9.7 million today) would have been better applied to tapping Bantam Lake from the start. Letters to the editor continued to be published advocating for one source or another. A “Waterbury American” newspaper correspondent, apparently favoring Hop Brook and Lake Quassapaug, was criticized because, the letter writer opined, he “either wants a slice of the pie himself or is a poor mathematician.” Another writer, using a repulsive racial idiom, questioned those who advocated the Hop Brook reservoir and suspected their motivation was only financial gain. Meanwhile, people were complaining that the drinking water from the Cooke Street reservoir had an unpleasant odor and taste. People needed a fresh, plentiful source of water, and the need was critical.

By October 1890, the Waterbury Board of Water Commissioners presented their report recommending Hop Brook as their choice for the new water supply for Waterbury, but Waterbury’s Common Council criticized their choice. An opinion piece in the “Waterbury Democrat” challenged members of the Court of Common Council to visit the various sources “before the fall rains set in.” It added, “Quassapaug is a delusion and a snare and Hop Brook is fully as bad. To the contrary, the Mad River in Waterbury is found to be far superior.”

Middlebury resident Thomas Kelly, often called “Kelly the baker,” whose home was on Lake Quassapaug, weighed in heavily on the subject. Tucked into his copious advertising for his bakery and dairy products in Waterbury newspapers, he stated: “It’s no use voting Hop Brook unless you can get Quassapaug, and it’s no use in trying to get Quassapaug because the towns of Waterbury, Naugatuck, Middlebury, Woodbury and Watertown say this is the only breathing place that our working class can afford to go to in summer.”

Finally, a deus ex machina arrived to save the day. At a meeting on 06 March 1893, Robert Andrew Cairns (1859-1937), Waterbury City Engineer, disclosed, “… I desire to invite your attention to another and distinct source, which I will for convenience designate as the northern source.” The source he indicated was the stream that empties into the Naugatuck on the west side at a point a little south of Reynolds Bridge in Thomaston, commonly known as “the Branch.” Cairns was a brilliant engineer, whose most notable work was the Shepaug reservoir system in Morris.

Cairns’s proposal was ultimately received with great satisfaction by the Common Council, as it provided a way of escape from the years of wrangling over all other locations. Application was made to the legislature, and bills were passed in April 1893, to facilitate the project. The result was the birth of the Wigwam Reservoir, which spared Lake Quassapaug, Hop Brook and others. The waters of Lake Quassapaug would remain safe for almost 60 years until, in 1951, danger loomed again.

Bob Rafford is the Middlebury Historical Society president and Middlebury’s municipal historian. To contact the society, visit MiddleburyHistoricalSociety.org or contact him at president@middleburyhistoricalsociety.org. Your membership and support are welcome.