The Virginia American Water Company Collection (MS103)

Collection

Identifier: MS103

Staff Only

Content Description

The collection consists of financial records, such as account books from the 1800s; dividend payments; income tax returns from 1919-1928; company records and reports; an employee records book from the 1920s-1940; letters of correspondence; company histories; franchise map; and newsclippings from various newspapers in 1956-1957. Of particular interest are the 1867 property book and the book containing the "Copies of Deeds, Agreements, & Contracts" from 1853-1892. Both contain drawings and diagrams of where water pipes had been laid in Old Town.

Dates

1866 - 1988

Creator

Virginia American Water Company (Organization)

Biographical / Historical

The Virginia American Water Company was originally founded in 1852 as the Alexandria Water Company. The idea for a supply of clean water can be attributed to Benjamin Hallowell, who after losing three children to disease, may have realized the importance of clean water. The Alexandria Water Company was chartered by the Virginia Legislature on March 22, 1850 and Hallowell served as its first President. The company expanded in the early 1900s and again in the 1950s. In 1972, the company merged with the Old Dominion Water Corporation and the Prince William Water Company to become the Virginia American Water Company.

Extent

7 Linear Feet (15 Boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in six series as follows: Series I: Correspondence, 1866-1980 Series II: Company Records, 1859-1960 Series III: Financial Records, 1852-1929 and Annual Reports, 1851-1879 Series IV: Legal Documents, 1924-1948 Series V: Company History/Photographs and Miscellaneous Items Series VI: Drawings and Sketches

Related Materials

Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, Box 202; Alexandria City Records, Box 19MM, Box 19UU (Water and gas pipes, 1855); Boothe Family Papers, Box 164 (Annual Reports, 1851-1879); Box 195.

Erickson, Philip M., Cdr. Alexandria Water Company Permits: The First 1000 'Pipers.' Alexandria, VA: City of Alexandria Archaeology, 1988. Hallowell, Benjamin. Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell. Philadelphia: Friends Book Association, 1884. Swain, Perry Carpenter. "Robert Hartshorne Miller, 1798-1874, A Quaker Presence in Alexandria." Graduate Thesis, George Washington University, 1988.