Waterworks, fire department founded after 1895 fire

Home builders in the 1890s might have had reservations about water when they considered buying lots in the old Village of Wauwatosa. The village offered none, which meant no drinking water and no fire protection. 

Those who settled anyway woke up on a summer morning in 1895 and found out that much of the business district, known today as the Village, had burned to the ground. 

As the ruins smoldered, the vexed village board did what it could and banned the construction of frame buildings. But without a waterworks or fire department, village leaders feared that extinguishing the next big fire would remain dependent on a bucket brigade of volunteers to tote water from the nearby Menomonee River. 

An alternative was pursuing city status. Confronted by the era’s legal limits to status as a mere village, leaders set their eyes on persuading state legislators to make Wauwatosa a city and allow it to reorganize under a city charter. As a village, the pioneer settlement’s future was bleak. With a city charter, though, Wauwatosa could issue bonds to borrow money, build a waterworks, and establish a fire department. 

The leaders’ quest for legislation permitting the city status was successful in 1897. Mayor Emerson Hoyt and the first common council were elected on May 25 and obtained a charter two days later, allowing the city to finance the construction of the waterworks. 

Before the end of 1898, the waterworks was up and running at the foot of the bluff overlooking Blanchard Street. And in 1899, less than a year after water was flowing in the new pipes, the council established its first fire department. By 1903, 75 miles of water mains had been laid, and 70 fire hydrants had been installed, as well as some residential connections. Municipal water service was first extended to the north side of North Avenue in 1918. 

Five more wells had been added by 1935 to meet rising demand as the population climbed. City wells were producing 6.2 million gallons of water per minute. But that wasn’t enough, especially during summer dry spells. The city frequently restricted lawn sprinkling. 

The Blanchard Street Water Works was modified sometime before 1934 to deepen the well, but surface water seeped back into it. The state health department flagged the problem in August 1934 and ordered that the well be shut down. 

A worker using an acetylene torch to cut pipes at the waterworks set off a spark, igniting gas that had accumulated in the well. That led to a series of three explosions that killed one worker and injured seven others. 

From 1935 until about 1950, the deep wells ran so clean that even chlorine treatment was unnecessary. Still, it was hard water with a high sulfate content, and most homeowners needed water softeners. 

There were no water meters until at least 1911. Homes and businesses were charged each month based on how many devices on the property used water. 

In 1927, six years after the creation of a metropolitan sewerage district that included Wauwatosa, a speaker at an event at the Methodist Episcopal Church, civic leader Charles B. Perry, told an audience that Wauwatosa had turned a cold shoulder to buying water from Milwaukee when the city “found out Milwaukee was then drinking its own sewage disposal.” 

Wauwatosa overcame its fear of Milwaukee water in the 1950s after the city annexed large tracts, but was unable to produce enough water to serve them.

Tapping Lake Michigan seemed an obvious solution, but Milwaukee refused to sell. All other suburbs surrounding Milwaukee were buying water from the city, but Milwaukee refused to help Wauwatosa. Milwaukee argued bitterly that Wauwatosa should become part of Milwaukee if it couldn’t supply water to its newly annexed northwest side. Milwaukee’s view was that Wauwatosa was drawing industries and jobs from Milwaukee and hurting Milwaukee’s tax base. 

Wauwatosa fought before the Public Service Commission and the State Supreme Court, finally winning in April 1958, when Milwaukee was ordered to sell water. Three months later, Lake Michigan water finally flowed into a main near N. 64th and W. Clarke Streets. 

“Don’t throw away your water softener,” the Wauwatosa News-Times advised its readers at the time, “for the amount of Milwaukee water in Wauwatosa mains will be so small that it will not be noticed in most of the city.” 

Eventually, the new service eliminated all need for municipal well water. The last two city wells were sealed off in 1987. A few private wells were left in place for lawn sprinkling.