In 1915; the general assembly appointed the Providence Water Supply Board to condemn 14;800 acres of land in rural Scituate. The hardworking people of the five villages were devastated. By December 1916; notices were delivered to the villagers stating that the homes and land they had owned for generations were to be taken and destroyed. Construction was well under way by 1921; and water was being stored by November 10; 1925. On September 30; 1926; the treatment plant began operation. It now serves more than 60 percent of Rhode Islanders. The $21 million project was the largest ever undertaken in the state at the time. The dam that annihilated the villages is 3;200 feet long and 100 feet high and holds back more than 40 billion gallons of water. Today these quiet villages lie up to 87 feet beneath the cold; dark waters of the Scituate Reservoir.
#2508654 in eBooks 2009-05-18 2009-05-18File Name: B0099JCBWS
Review
