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ILLUSTRATIONS FROM:
(WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO LOAD)
THE HISTORY OF
THE NEWARK SEWER SYSTEM
by Glenn R.
Modica
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Newark in 1668. Newark’s topography
afforded the town all the natural advantages of
drainage and an abundant water supply.
By the late nineteenth century, all of the city’s
watercourses, including the Mill Brook, Newark’s
most important waterway
(shown at the upper right) were covered over and used
to transport sewage to the Passaic River.
(From William H. Shaw, History of Essex and
Hudson Counties, New Jersey [1884]).
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On the eve of the Industrial Revolution, Newark
resembled an overgrown village. Unsanitary conditions
prevailed
as streets were unpaved, pigs roamed freely, and
garbage and waste were left to rot in the open air.
(Courtesy of Newark Public Library)
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The table shows the order, location and other details of Newark’s
brick sewer construction. By 1870, the city had constructed only
12 miles of sewers. (From the 1877 Annual Report of the City
Surveyor, City of Newark, New Jersey
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Horseshoe-shaped brick sewer under Mulberry Street near
Lafayette Street built ca. 1870.
(Photograph by Specialty
Sewer Services, Inc.)
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Egg-shaped brick sewer under Muhammed Ali Avenue near
Quitman Street built ca. 1870.
(Photograph by Specialty
Sewer Services, Inc.)
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Typical sections of egg-shaped, circular-shaped and
horseshoe-shaped sewers constructed for the Newark Trunk
Sewer in 1887.
(From Sanitary Engineer and Construction
Record, May 7, 1887)
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Construction of sewer near the Passaic River (1915). By the
late nineteenth century, steam powered machines
made it faster and
less expensive to construct sewers. (Courtesy of Newark Public
Library)
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Edward Rankin, who held the position
of Newark’s
Chief Engineer of Sewers
and Drainage from 1903-1945,
possessed
an intimate knowledge of Newark’s sewers
and
wrote extensively on the city’s natural
topography and
watercourses.
(From C. Albert Gassner, Men of Newark,
1904)
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Plaque commemorating the 1887 completion of Newark Trunk Sewer
that alleviated drainage
problems in the city and the meadows.
(Photograph by Glenn R. Modica)
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