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System History
The original Caribou Water Company was chartered by the Maine Legislature on March 11, 1887 to provide a supply of water for the Town of Caribou. The original incorporators were L.R. King, Weston Lewis, J.S. Maxcy, S.W. Collins, G.I. Trickey, Jefferson Cary, L.C. Stearns, Chas. F. Thomas, O.P. Stevenson, J.A. Clark, H.M. Heath, A.G. Bradstreet, W.E. Maxcy, O.A. Tuell, and A.M. Spear. The first General Manager was E.E. Haynes. The original stock of the company was $60,000 at $100 per share.
This was not the first waterworks in Caribou, but it was the most comprehensive. An earlier water system captured water from springs above Elizabeth Street. Water was piped by gravity through hollowed wooden pipes buried in the ground to several watering basins around town. Reportedly these were located at the intersections of Prospect and Sweden Streets, Main and Sweden Streets and along Water Street. At each location a spigot was installed for the public to fill pails and the overflow was directed into watering tubs for livestock and the many horses, the primary means of transportation at that time.
On June 28, 1888, the Town of Caribou and the Water Company signed a contract for water service and fire protection. On October 31, 1888, H.M. Tidd, a Boston Engineer was in Caribou to locate the site of the waterworks. It was estimated the site selected would provide about 9,500 gross horsepower and a water supply for the Town. T.J. Emery of Waterville, an experienced bridge builder, arrived in November of that year to arrange construction of a dam across the Aroostook River. Jacob Hardison of Caribou was hired as a local agent and S.W. Collins was contracted to provide lumber for the dam, which required over three million board-feet. During the summer of 1889 work on the dam was underway with a large crew of men housed near the worksite. The dam was constructed of heavy wooden cribs, or boxes filled with large rocks as ballast. Wooden piles were driven on the upstream face to secure the dam to the river bottom. The top and faces were covered with wood planking to reduce leakage. A blacksmith shop was constructed near the site to provide metal fabrications for the project. The blacksmith shop...