LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - SEPTEMBER 5, 2021 by Lynne Belluscio When we first bought land in LeRoy, we knew that before the deal could be complete, we had to have good potable water. I don’t remember the name of the water douser who came out. All I know was that we had to have two boxes of chocolates for him, because he wouldn’t take payment. The chocolates were for his girlfriends. My husband was dubious about dousing, but became a convert after he made two rods from two wire clothes hangers. As soon as he held the metal rods, they swung together over the “river of water.” So, the well was drilled – 40 foot – and everything went along fine. The well served two adults, three horses, and two kids. We did install a water softener to remove iron and lime. In November of one year, we ran out of water. I don’t remember the year, but there had been a drought. It recovered slowly. I remember 5 minute showers and only one load of wash a day for a while. But then a couple of years ago, I had a new softener put in, and discovered that it drew too much water for the back wash. But there was talk of a Monroe County water line and to make a long story short last week I was connected to a water line. But it got me to thinking about water in LeRoy. The Historical Society has just moved and restored the Lent/Klinkbeil pump house that originally stood on West Main Street. When the pump house was moved, it still stood over a 14 foot hand- dug well – although the house had long ago been connected to municipal water. How many other wells are still in the village? For sure, in the village, people are not connected to the old wells, but when did water lines and municipal water become available? I discovered several hand typed pages in our files with some interesting information. It seems that in 1890 or so, houses in the village were being built with indoor plumbing and bathrooms. At this time, the Village decided to have several large wells drilled that would be operated by coal fired steam pumps. Seven and a half gallons of water was drawn with each sweep of the pump. According to what I read, five wells were dug on the “George Walter’s Farm on the West side of Summit Street Road”. Another well was drilled North of the “Heimlich home on what is now the LeRoy Golf Course. A third well, called the Deforest Well, was located on the Osborn farm on the West Main Road.” The wells were pumped into a standpipe on Craigie Street, which was the highest point in the Village. The standpipe was erected in 1896 and was 20 foot wide and 100 foot high. It held 250,000 gallons of water. The sections of standpipe were drawn in place by a team of horses and in 1921, two more sections were added. There was also a tank on Summit Street and both of the water tanks were photographed and included in the 1940 Book. It was also at this time that people were concerned about water for the fire department. Howard Prentice, who owned the flour mill on Mill Street, maintained a steam pump that provided water in case of a fire. Pipe was laid from Craigie Street, down Main Street to North Street and down Church Street to St. Mark’s Street. Another line went down Mill Street to the “Salt Block.” These lines were equipped with hydrants. When the fire whistle blew, the firemen from the Oatka Hose Company would pull their hose cart to the closest hydrant and hook up the hose. Mr. Prentice would fire up the steam pump to provide pressure. It’s hard to imagine what it was like to fight fires before the water lines were laid. The fire department, which was located on Bank Street, had to utilize a hand pumper which would pump water from the creek or a well or a cistern. Bucket brigades were formed and each house was expected to have fire buckets at the ready. The Excelsior Hook and Ladder Company carried many buckets on their wagon for the bucket brigade. The Chemical Hose Company had a large wagon that worked very much like a giant fire extinguisher, and didn’t require water. I also discovered that the water that was pumped to the standpipe from the wells was only filtered through a bed of gravel and through “the porous brick walls that divided the wells.” Although many people relied on hand dug wells – and eventually drilled wells for water, many houses also had cisterns which collected rain water from the roof. This water was used for washing clothes and was a source of water in case of fire. The LeRoy House has a large cement cistern in the basement (although it no longer collects water from the roof.) Never Take Water For Granted