2013 Water Main from 1927

Work continues to progress on the water and sewer construction on North Grand Avenue, and I'm pretty sure some of the workers are beginning to wonder about me.  The other day, for instance, I was making a delivery to the Carpet Depot (right in the midst of all the chaos) and I noticed a number of the men standing around a rather large hole.  Just looking in, talking, contemplating, I supposed.

So, of course, after I made my delivery, I crossed the street to join them gazing down into this 8-foot (at least) deep hole.  A couple of the village DPW workers were there (and recognized me) so I got into conversation with them.  

At that point in the day, the guys digging had exposed a major portion of the 1927 lead (I believe) watermain and were in the process of capping it off to stop any water flow from about in front of Kim's Barber Shop to South Street.

Me, being the crazy lady I've become, asked if there was anyway I could get a chunk of the old main for our historical collection.  After a few puzzled looks from those not knowing me, one of the guys deep in the hole asked, "how big?"  

Below is what he then easily tossed up onto the grass between the road and the sidewalk.  It didn't look nearly as nice as this, as it has since been power-washed and dried.  So, this is what a watermain looked like in 1927 and was still very operational 86 years later.  And, by the way, this little chunk of 6" (inside diameter) by about 2-feet long watermain is heavy -- not something I could easily toss up from a deep hole!

Eventually, when we can put together a display, this will definitely be available for a close-up look.

I did some cursory research for around 1927, looking for information on the watermain work and possibly of the old water tower that used to stand in the northwest quadrant (behind Fowlerville Lumber) but couldn't find anything.  I did find an article, though, of a watermain break on East Grand River, which follows:

The lead pipe to the water main in front of the Novara store sprung a leak Saturday and a hole had to be cut in the new pavement and a tunnel dug under for some distance to make the repair.

The Novara store was located in the northeast quadrant about where Edward Jones is now located.