P a g e 6 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r HISTORY OF PARK COUNTY-continued From The Livingston Enterprise, January 1, 1900: Livingston Water Works. In the organization of a city one of the most important items to be considered for the welfare of its residents is a complete water works system—one that can be relied upon for supplying an abundance of water at all seasons, as well as an unchangeable amount of it in a pure and healthful condition. Early in 1889, Isaac Orschel, Charles H. Stebbins and Samuel Bundock, residents of Livingston, were granted a franchise to supply the city with water for a period of twenty years; and soon after it was resolved into the organization of the Livingston Water Works, with a capital stock of $50,000. The works were not completed until the summer of 1890, since which time they have been in constant and uninterrupted operation. The water works plant is situated on the bank of the Yellowstone river at the foot of Third street. It is built of stone and brick, 25x60 feet, and contains the pumps and motive power for furnishing water by gravity and direct pressure. The reservoir is situated one-half mile west of Park street, and has a capacity of 350,000 gallons. Its elevation above Main street is 180 feet, giving an eighty-pound pressure at the hydrants. This reservoir is built of solid masonry, while a double roof protects its contents from surface impurities. A well, fourteen feet in circumference, and located sixty feet from the river, supplies it with water by filtering through the intervening gravel beds. This well is connected with the Yellowstone by pipe, as a precaution against a possible failure in case of excessive fires. The power house contains two fifty-horse power boilers; one Dean Duplex steam pump with a capacity of 750,000 gallons per 24 hours; one Dean Compound Duplex steam pump with a capacity of 450,000 gallons per twenty-four hours, and one Bar pump with a capacity of one and one-half million gallons per twentyfour hours. Experts say that the city of Livingston, for its size, has the finest water works system in the state of Montana. The system of mains originally covered a total distance of about five miles, while at convenient points for fire purposes were located twenty-five double-discharge hydrants. Today, there are about eight miles of mains, ranging in diameter from four to ten inches, while fifty-three double-discharge hydrants are necessary for the city’s protection. The present officers of the company are : President, W. J. Anderson; vice-president, Chas. Angus; secretary, E. C. Day; treasurer, T. M. Swindlehurst ; consulting engineer and superintendent, E. C. Ross. So complete is this plant, and so satisfactory are its operations that it is impossible to find one grumbler throughout its present flourishing patronage, while the existing healthfulness throughout Livingston can Water Works Plant
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