An Hydraulic Solution to Snohomish’s Water Woes
Innovation at the eastern edge of town brings running water to the school house flat.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Messrs. Packard and Jackson some time since sought to remedy the deficient water supply of the flat around the school house at the eastern end of this town. By taking water from the creek west of Henry Jackson’s residence and by means of an hydraulic ram, they are forcing it up the hill to his dooryard into a tank there made to hold it; from thence it can be taken in pipes all over that part of town. This improvement is now in successful operation, is of public interest, and will add to the value of property there.
“This improvement is now in successful operation, is of public interest, and will add to the value of property there.”
Infrastructure has been a constant struggle in Snohomish since its founding, with early settlers improvising their own utilities to sustain growth. Today’s debates over public water access, modern piping, and the rising value of property in developed areas echo these 19th-century efforts to tame the local landscape.
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