Jamaica Pond and Boston’s Water System – the early history of the Boston water system
An Arnold Arboretum Lecture for Adults
Marcis Kempe, Director, Metropolitan Waterworks Museum
Marcis Kempe, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum and an avid water supply historian will discuss the early attempts by Boston residents to find drinking water on Shawmut peninsula. Early wood pipe water systems led eventually to the construction of Boston’s 1796 Jamaica Pond Aqueduct which fulfilled a need for water supply piped directly into houses. Mr. Kempe will chronicle this story and that of 1848 Boston’s municipal water system that eventually replaced the wooden pipes and the further growth of the Metropolitan Boston water system. Learn about the people and events in the Jamaica Pond story and how this modest system grew into today’s nationally acclaimed Metropolitan Boston water supply.
Free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Details
Sponsored by the Jamaica Plain Historical Society, the Metropolitan Waterworks Museum, and the Arnold Arboretum
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