By Ray Ezell
Late last month, the original 1910 Town of Orange standpipe was demolished by a work crew after they installed a new standpipe on Burgess’ Hill along South Madison Street. The erection of the new standpipe was begun in late 2023 and culminated with the removal of the adjacent historic water tower.
The original water tower was spawned by the Great Fire of 1908. Mayor Dr. Frank B. Perry and other town leaders decided that the town should install a central water Supply housed in a reservoir tank and adjoining standpipe. Because of its elevation, the hill just east of town, partly owned by Mr. W.W. Burgess, was selected for the reservoir location. Also, Burgess’ hill had two natural springs that could be used to feed the reservoir.
The steel standpipe plates were fabricated in a mill and shipped to Orange by rail. Upon arrival, they were loaded onto horse-drawn wagons and taken up East Main Street to the worksite. There, the large plates were joined with hot rivets, under the direction of Gen. William Nalle. The lower plates measured about 12 to 14-inches thick and tapered to the top of the pipe. The pipe measured 20-feet in diameter and was 120-feet tall. It held 289,000 gallons of water. It was completed in December of 1910.
Originally, a wood-fired steam-powered pump was used to fill the standpipe. By 1919, the waterworks had been upgraded to include a gas-powered pump at the standpipe spring with a capacity of 60 gallons per minute and another gas-powered pump in the pumping station with a capacity of 40 gallons per minute.
The town’s water supply system was all gravity fed; it totaled about 2½ miles of pipe.
It was comprised of 8-inch and 6-inch main lines with 38 two-way fire hydrants. The daily average consumption downtown was 30,000 gallons. About 1919, a pumping station was established on the Rapidan River near Spicer’s Mill Road, next to the Woodberry Forest laundry. A 4-inch line was run to Woodberry Forest School at no cost to the school, and an 8-inch line was run to town.
One last note of interest:
Around 1961, a large number of animal carcasses were removed from the standpipe which then had no cover. A cover was installed the same year.
Editor’s Note:
That’s good to know! Also, see the Spring 2016 (Vol. 47, No. 1) issue of our newsletter, “The Record,”for a good article by the late R. E. Lee, who used to play in the overflow from the pipe! Available to Members at https://www.orangecovahist.org/archiveresearch-newsletters.