Tashmoo Springs Pumping Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Tashmoo Springs Pumping Station
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The main pump house
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | Tisbury, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1870 |
| NRHP reference No. | 08001126 |
| Added to NRHP | December 3, 2008 |
The Tashmoo Springs Pumping Station is an old building in Tisbury, Massachusetts. It is on the island of Martha's Vineyard. This station was built in the 1880s by private companies. Its job was to bring fresh water to the growing vacation spots in Tisbury. It also supplied water to the port of Vineyard Haven.
In the early 1900s, the town took over the station. They made changes to use newer technology. But after some big hurricanes in the mid-1900s, the town realized the station was in a risky spot. It could not always provide clean drinking water. So, the town stopped using it. The station has been mostly empty since then. However, a company used it in the 1990s to bottle water. Some work has also been done to protect the main building, which is very old.
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History of the Tashmoo Pumping Station
The town of Tisbury, Massachusetts is located on the West Chop part of Martha's Vineyard island. A saltwater lake called Lake Tashmoo separates Tisbury from West Tisbury. A freshwater spring that fed the lake was also part of this area. Tisbury was settled in the 1600s. It has always been home to the island's main port, Vineyard Haven.
Building the First Water Station
In the 1800s, the northern part of West Chop was mostly farmland. People started to think about making it a summer resort in the 1870s. This idea really took off in the 1880s with a group called the West Chop Land Company. These business people wanted a steady supply of water for their new resort. So, in 1886, they started the Vineyard Haven Water Company.
This company bought about 30 acres (12 hectares) of land. This land included Tashmoo Spring and the edge of Lake Tashmoo. In 1887, they built a pumping station that ran on steam power. It cost $48,300. This was the very first water pumping station on Martha's Vineyard.
How the Station Worked
The pumping station used two steam engines to pull water from Lake Tashmoo. Pipes then carried this water to the new resort area at West Chop. It also went to Vineyard Haven. There, it supplied water for a few fire hydrants and some homes.
However, people soon found that the station was not big enough. It could not provide enough water for everyone or for fighting fires. People also complained that the private company charged too much. So, in 1905, the town used a legal process called eminent domain to take over the facility from the company.
Upgrades and Changes Over Time
Between 1905 and 1931, the town made the water system bigger and better. They added a new part to the main station in 1907. In 1919, the station changed from using steam power to electricity. This meant more changes were needed inside the building for the new equipment.
Hurricanes and the Station's End
In 1932, a very strong hurricane hit the area. It broke through the sandbar that separated Lake Tashmoo from the Atlantic Ocean. This made the water in the lake salty. The town realized how risky the station's location was for their water supply. So, they built a wall, called a dike. This dike was meant to keep a part of the lake's upper end safe from saltwater.
But another hurricane in 1944 broke this dike. Saltwater got into the station's water intake. Then, in 1954, Hurricane Carol flooded the pump house. This stopped the equipment from working. By this time, the town was already looking for other ways to get water. A new well was able to supply the town during the outage. The town stopped using the Tashmoo Spring facility as its main water source in 1971.
After that, the buildings were not used much. A private company briefly used them in the 1980s. They sold Tashmoo Spring Bottled Water until 1999. Since then, the town has worked to fix the main pumping station's roof. They have also put a special rule on the building to protect it. In 2008, about 17 acres (6.9 hectares) of land, including the remaining parts of the water system, were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
