Hastings Brook (LOCATION) is found at the crossing of a brook over a small footbridge. This brook at one time caused much problems with the water being piped into Holyoke. It used to flood when either the brook or the spillway was very active. Its suspended load of silt and clay would get into the Intake Reservoir and cause the water to have a high turbidity. This problem was alleviated when a small dam was placed under the crossing.
The sluiceway was extended in 1935 and in 1938 to join the other sluiceway that ran from the aerator to the Intake Reservoir. In 1939 the year after the New England Hurricane caused great damage, a 36 inch pipeline was added for the 488 feet from the Hastings Brook to the Intake Reservoir. A tiny dam was added at the juncture of the two. It would release water at the bottom of the Intake in a very settled made.
(Image is courtesy of the Holyoke History Room at the Holyoke Public Library. It is from a booklet called “Souvenir by the Holyoke Water Works”.)
Roaring Brook passes under Aerator Road and is visible on both sides. Orient yourself by using the picture just above. This fenced area is the Intake Dam and its spillway. (LOCATION) It now has a culvert under the interstate. Walk toward this fence. Then walk to the left of the fence. The Intake Dam runs northeast to southwest below your feet. The octagonal gatehouse run along a separate foundation to the northwest.
The dam of the Intake Reservoir is 141 feet 9 inches long and 15 feet high. It is 12 feet thick at its base and 7 feet thick at it top. There was a small spillway on top that was 2.5 feet down. The water in Whiting Street Reservoir is 32 feet higher than in the Intake. (Whiting Street Reservoir is at 390 feet above sea level and thus Intake is at 358.) The intake was built from 1884 to 1885 with Mt Tom sandstone. After the larger dam was built, it served as a location where sediment in calm water could settle. The larger dam water was also once a year used to hose out the sediment in the Intake.
The octagonal gatehouse (18 by 14 feet) was added to the top of the dam at some point in the late 1800s. In 1919 it was rebuilt due to a fire (in 1917). This new gatehouse was built on the berm behind the modern chlorination structure. You can find its foundation about 50 feet south of the chlorination building. This gatehouse was also a guard house and was finally removed between 1965 to 1976. In 1913 the watch person at the Intake was deputized as a Holyoke police officer. See the wonderful picture at the start of this stop.
Not only did the Intake area need to be very secure but it also needed to be very clean. Brush was cleared away at a distance of 2.5 miles from the dam. Then barbed wire fencing was used to enclose 2 acres.
The modern road comes from the north and goes to the west but the old road comes from the southeast. Look in that direction between the modern chlorination plant and the brook. You will see a grass road that is about 30 yards long. This once lead to Northampton Street.
Notice the fluoridation and chlorination station to the south built in 1965 and 1970. This is the second chlorination building along the road with the first being built in 1941 but removed in 1965. There is a municipal pipe below your feet that leads to the downtown Holyoke, the Highlands, Smith Ferry and the Flats. The grassy knoll to your south is the location of the former chlorination station. Its foundation is apparent at two locations if you look carefully. The original entrance road is at the midsection of the knoll. There was also a barn in the middle western edge of the knoll for supplies.
This is the intersection of three roads – Aerator Road (part of Whiting Street Reservoir Road), Mountain Park Road, and Mount Tom Ski Area Road. (LOCATION)
It is obvious what they led to. The ski area is only a mile away from this point. The Mount Tom Ski Area Road also leads to an access road to climb the mountain. The trolley bed at one time passed close to here. The road to the reservoir was made in 1963 and is called Aerator Road.
If you look carefully to the east of Mountain Park Road, you can see the support piers for the trolley to elevate the cars over a gully. The tar roads for cars was a bit more to the north. Read much more about the trolley lines at HOLYOKE TROLLEY. (On the inset map, the trolley line is in deep black and is between the blue and the lower red lines.)
At the crossing of Kenilworth Road and Mountain Park Road there is an old road leading west. (In the inset map just above, it is the black line above the upper RED line and is marked “Road to Reservoir”). (LOCATION) It starts about 70 feet into the driveway of the Kenilworth Castle Condos.) This is the remnant of the entrance to Whiting Street Reservoir. It once led to the reservoir but in 1963 when the interstate highway was put in, the Reservoir Road was partially taken out. The Kenilworth Castle was to the south. The stream nearby is the end of Roaring Brook which soon crosses Northampton Street and empties into the Connecticut River. This entrance had a large castellated gate from 1912 to 1963 but it has mostly been removed.
In 1914 an iron pipe fence lined both sides of the road from this gate to the reservoir. In 1918 this entrance road was paved with bituminous macadam. The iron gate across the road was added in 1919. By the next year 1920 the gate was being used a lot to restrict driving whenever needed.
Part of a surface pump and some walls are still here. This road is the property of Holyoke Water Works so you may walk up it but it only leads to a fence on the interstate highway. Another dirt road leading north was constructed in 1915 to lead to Mountain Park. This road was paved in 1928. (On the inset map, this is the UPPER RED line.) The tar road that you drove in on, going to the park and reservoir was made in 1965. (On the inset map, this is the BLUE line.)
In 1912 also a pipeline was lain from the castle area near this gate to the Mt Tom Country Club. This would bring water to the golf course for the first time.
The first chlorination plant of two at Whiting Street Reservoir was put in place in January 24 of 1941 having been started in 1940. It was 100 feet north of this gate. It was easterly of the Water Works road (between the two old roads that are described above). See the schematic above for a look at its design. It had a Ross hydraulic pump that injected chlorine into the water. (In 1941, 25 pounds of chlorine was used every 24 hours.) The equipment could hold 1 ton of chlorine at a time so the tanks must have been large. The plant included a Venturi meter (January 7 1`941) and a Ventilator both of which were stored in the basement in order to stay clear of the chlorine. The plant was 25 feet long and 12 feet wide. At 8 feet 3 inches high, it also had a cellar. Each of the three segments had doors and each had a window. The northern section had a stairway down to the cellar.
This area had a large platform for a floral and bush display and the chlorination plant was to its western edge.
Christine Hurlburt was found murdered in 1968 close to this spot. FINDAGRAVE
gateway
still there and see also image to the left
upper Roaring Brook after it comes out from the interstate area
William Whiting brought his large family to Ireland Parish in the mid-1840s. There he developed a coal business with one of his sons – Edward Gustavus Whiting. Another of his sons – William Whiting – would develop a large paper mill and also enter politics.
