Trinidad Waterworks

The second oldest standing
building in Trinidad

  by Bryan Zug,
July 7, 1997

Built in 1879, the facility housed the pump station that shot water from a deep well to a reservoir on the top of a hill above town that is still known as resevoir hill. There gravity pushed the water through pipes to the homes of all of the subscribers.

The Waterworks was started by a fellow named Dellos Chappel and began as a private enterprise. At first, the business had trouble getting subscribers.

People were wary of the new system and many continued to buy water from vendors who carted it around town in wagons, selling it from open barrels taken directly from the river.

Part of the problem seems to have been that Chappel himself didn't use the service. Despite the fact that his own mansion had its own built in water system, this lead to many different stories about the quality of the water.

Adding to this was the price of the water. The rates for Chappel's system were five cents a gallon for the first 8,000 gallons and then two cents a gallon after that.

Chappel eventually sold the Waterworks to the city and the building is still used by the Water Department today.

Sources:

"A Walk Through the History of Trinidad" written by Jerry Stokes on behalf of the Trinidad Historical Society. 1986. Trinidad, Colorado.