SALEM WATERWORKS
by Shirlyn Ratcliff*
Want a drink of water? Turn on the faucet.
How about a shower? A simple turn of the knob
provides an abundant water supply. Let's have a
Coke! More water needed to produce that drink.
Every facet of our lives requires fresh, pure water.
But have you ever stopped to think how we get
that water? Stretching the imagination even fur¬
ther, how did early settlers get their water? There
were wells, rainwater cisterns (storage basins),
springs, and rivers, but "running" water was un¬
heard of in early colonial America. All this
changed when the Moravians installed a water¬
works at Salem, based on a similar system in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, that had been devel¬
oped in 1754.
The Moravians migrated to North Carolina
from their settlements in Pennsylvania. The reli¬
gious sect originally came to America from Sax¬
ony, an industrialized urban section of Germany.
They brought town plans and a strong spiritual
and community life. The Moravians bought al¬
most 100,000 acres in the western Piedmont
which they called Wachovia — coming from
"wach," meaning stream, and "aue," for meadow.
Before settling in what is now Salem in 1766,
they lived in Bethabara (1753) and Bethania
(1759). The site for Salem was carefully laid out
and was chosen for its abundant water supply.
Aside from personal use and fire protection,
brewers, dyers, potters, and other craftsmen
needed adequate water. By 1778 the town had
grown and plans began for the Salem water¬
works. The Brethren (Salem residents) decided a
central water system would cost less than dig¬
ging more wells, and they chose two springs a
mile from Salem as their water supply.
A carpenter, Christian Triebel, and a joiner, Jo¬
hannes Krause, were hired to construct the sys¬
tem. Five- to eight-foot-long oak or heart-of-pine
logs were bored to a diameter of
Ш
to 3 inches.
The logs were trimmed at both ends to fit togeth¬
er with an iron ring. The ring was larger than the
openings bored into each log. To secure a tight fit
the logs were pounded together into the iron
ring. Once running water passed through the log
pipes, the wood became swollen and this further
tightened the end joints secured by the iron ring.
Three-foot-deep trenches were dug from the
springs down to Salem. The log pipes were
placed in the trenches, covered with earth, and
gravity provided the running water. To ensure
adequate water pressure, Triebel used different
bore sizes in his pipes. The farther away the
pipes ran from the springs, the smaller the bore
in the log pipes became.
Triebel and a journeyman could drill ninety-
six feet of pipe a day, and the entire system cost
$2,000. Water was held in five cisterns, and run¬
off water ran into reserve cisterns. Two water
outlets served Salem's main street. The water was
dispensed through standpipes as well as being
dipped from troughs, barrels, and the cisterns.
Water went to the kitchens of the Single Brothers
House, the Gemein House, and the tavern
through copper pipes with spigots. A monthly
fee for water use was charged.
Journeyman. A worker who has
learned a trade and works for an¬
other man.
This drawing shows carpenter Christian Triebel and
his helper Johannes Krause preparing the log water
pipes used in Salem's first waterworks system. (All
drawings and photographs in this article courtesy of
Old Salem Restoration, Winston-Salem, North Caroli¬
na.)
•Museum of History Intern.
