Sanitary survey of the town of Lawrence / by the chairman of the commissioners appointed under a resolve of the legislature of Massachusetts, relating to a sanitary survey of the state.

Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sanitary survey of the town of Lawrence / by the chairman of the commissioners appointed under a resolve of the legislature of Massachusetts, relating to a sanitary survey of the state. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Lowell, and Daniel Saunders, of Andover, by the name of the “ Water Power Association,” for the purpose of purchasing lands and creating a water power on Merrimack River, in Andover and Methuen. They selected the site and projected this as a manufacturing town ; and pur- chased about three-fourths of the land comprised within the present limits of the township. The same individuals obtained an act of incorporation by the name of the “ Essex Company,” dated March 20, 1845. The stock of this company was taken up and the company organized in April, 1845, at which time Hon. Abbott Lawrence was chosen President; Messrs. Patrick T. Jackson, William Sturgis, Nathan Appleton, John A. Low- ell, and Ignatius Sargent, Directors; and Charles S. Storrow, Esq., Principal Agent and Chief Engineer. To this company all the lands purchased by the “Association” were conveyed. Before commencing the enterprise, a careful survey was made and a general plan formed, under the direction of the chief engineer, for using the water power, for the location and construction of the dam, for the canal and the mills, and for the streets and public squares of the town. In the spring of 1846, the services of Capt. Charles H. Big- elow, formerly of the U. S. Engineers, were also obtained for the com- pany, and under his immediate direction the works upon the dam and canal were successfully carried forward to their completion, in accord- ance with the original designs. The results of the surveys were laid down upon a map, an outline of which is presented, accompanying this sketch. The streets are from 50 to 80 feet in width, and generally 200 feet apart. The build- ing lots arc 93 feet deep from the street, leaving a back passage-way of 14 feet in width between the two tiers of lots. The elevation of the crossing of each street, above a given level, is stated in the plan, showing the grading proposed to be made by the Essex Company, as a guide to builders ; and the streets were so drawn as to admit of surface drainage and under-ground sewerage. A large common s»wer, the interior of which is 6£ feet high and 3 feet wide, admitting a man to walk erect, was constructed of brick laid in cement and of stone masonry, and passes under and 4 feet below the bed of the canal, near the foot of Lawrence street, into the Merrimack River. It is in a natural ravine, of gradual descent, with a constant stream of water passing through it, keeping it at all times sweet and clean. There are two other great sewers in other parts of the town, built of brick and stone, each 4 feet in diameter, passing under the canal. These sewers lead from Haverhill street, (the one most elevated,) southerly, into the Merrimack. Others lead northerly, into the Spicket, and a very effective drainage and sewerage are by these means afforded. The town has appropriated $5,000, this year, for the construction of collateral sewers. The main common or public square, near the centre of the town, comprises 18 acres, and was the gift of the Essex Company. The other lands were divided into lots and numbered, a plan of which was drawn on different sheets, and bound in a volume, on a scale suffi- ciently large to admit inserting in each lot the name of the original purchaser, and the successive owners to which it may be transfer- ror! fnr opvprnl \rr>nr<3 A nnrt of the lots deSlffncd for DTlVatC USe