Albany (N.Y.). Water Commissioners' Office

Albany, New York is located at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. The city of Albany became New York's state capital in 1797 when it was the state's second largest city after New York City. Albany in the mid-nineteenth century was a center for transportation. It had prominent port facilities on the Hudson River as well as being a hub for the Mohawk and Hudson Rail Road which built the Albany and Schenectady Rail Road (later to become part of the New York Central Rail Road through noted Albany industrialist, Erastus Corning), the Schenectady and Great Western Turnpike and the Erie Canal.

Prior to 1850, a private company, the Albany Waterworks Company, tapped a number of water sources to supply the city's water supply from various creeks of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers supplying water by iron pipes and reservoirs within the city environs to individual properties. During the 1830s and 1840s there is expressed by the citizenry a desire for a reliable larger quantity and purer quality of water. The Common Council of Albany presents the matter to the Albany Water Works Company who in turn hires a series of engineers to study the matter to determine a reliable, clean and economic water source. For a number of years this matter is under discussion by the private company and the Albany city council. Several sources of water were considered: the Hudson River (but pumps would be needed to raise the water to the city's level), the Mohawk River (conduits and aqueducts to carry the water into the city) as well as private wells.

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