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.
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.
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
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.
This series includes business letters, letters to employees, and other various correspondences pertaining to the early years
of the Alexandria Water Company
Text box: 1 folder: 1
Outgoing and incoming letters to the State Corporation Commission
September 1919, December 1920, December 1922-January 1923
Text box: 1 folder: 2
Circular letter to Cameron Run Pump House employees
1921-12
Text box: 1 folder: 3
Worker compensation claim by Alan Cogan
1919-10
Text box: 1 folder: 4
Letter of complaint by Mrs. Kate N. Taylor
1922-11
Text box: 1 folder: 5
Letter regarding the company audit
1922-12
Text box: 1 folder: 6
Note for D.J. Howell.
Text box: 1 folder: 7
Letters to and from War Department regarding soldiers bathing at Edsall Station
1911-06
Text box: 1 folder: 8
Pipe distribution in Rosemont (see also blueprint collection).
Text box: 1 folder: 9
Letter to Chief Engineer from National Board of Fire Underwriters regarding cleaning of water mains (includes drawings)
1917, 1922
Text box: 1 folder: 10
Letter regarding high water pressure
1929-04
Text box: 1 folder: 11
Letter regarding water main on Duncan Avenue
1921-04
Text box: 1 folder: 12
Letter to Fairfax County regarding Belle Haven Golf Club
1927-04
Text box: 1 folder: 13
Letters regarding assessment of American Water Company properties by Commonwealth of Virginia
1929-06
Text box: 1 folder: 14
Letters of Gardner L. Boothe, company attorney
1948-10-1948-11
Text box: 1 folder: 15
Copy of letter to Robert H. Miller taken from the Autobiography of Benjamin Hallowell
This series contains various company records, such as personnel records, various reports and lists, all pertaining to the
running of the water company.
Text box: 3 folder: 1
Personnel records
1920's-1940
Text box: 3 folder: 2
List of pipe laid
1851-1917
Text box: 3 folder: 3
Rules, Regulations, and Rates
1867 and November 1918
Text box: 3 folder: 4
Report of Holmes Run Storage Reservoir
1904
Text box: 3 folder: 5
Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, Wheat v. City Council of Alexandria
1982-02
Text box: 3 folder: 6
Meter lists
1928-07
Text box: 3 folder: 7
Personal correspondence, possibly by Robert Miller
1868
Text box: 3 folder: 8
Consumer premises data
1920
Text box: 3 folder: 9
American Water Works Association, certificate of corporate membership
1909
Text box: 3 folder: 10
American Water Works Association, resolution concerning effect of war conditions upon maintenance and management of water
works
1918-04
Text box: 3 folder: 11
Report to Virginia Board of Health
1923-11
Text box: 3 folder: 12
Test by New York Water Board on mortar with sand
Text box: 3 folder: 13
Statistical report on pumping stations
1933
Text box: 3 folder: 14
Inspection report
1931
Text box: 3 folder: 15
Agreement with stockholders
1929-04
Text box: 3 folder: 16
Meeting minutes
1926
Text box: 3 folder: 17
Minutes from annual meeting of stockholders and newly elected Board of Directors
1927-11
Text box: 3 folder: 18
Location of valves
Text box: 3 folder: 19
Meter installation documents
Text box: 3 folder: 20
Report to the Honorable J.M. Hill, city council
Text box: 3 folder: 21
Report to stockholders
1925-06
Text box: 3 folder: 22
Proposed pipe extension
1923-09
Text box: 3 folder: 23
Drawings of properties to be plotted and properties completed
1920s
Text box: 3 folder: 24
Fire hydrants
1920s
Text box: 3 folder: 25
Advertising
1933, 1964
Text box: 3 folder: 26
Statement made by P.H. Dowdell at meeting of Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce
This series contains documents such as income tax returns, account books, a dividend book, and other various financial documents
as well as the annual reports from the President and Board of Directors to the stockholders.
Text box: 6 folder: 1
Annual Information Return
1921-1929
Text box: 6 folder: 2
Receipts
1865-1902, 1926
Text box: 6 folder: 3
Income Tax Returns
1919-1928
Text box: 6 folder: 4
Dividend Summary
1855-02-1929-01
Text box: 6 folder: 5
Appraisal Summary
1906-11
Text box: 6 folder: 6
Income Statement
1923
Text box: 6 folder: 7
Income Statement
1924
Text box: 6 folder: 8
Income Statement
1925
Text box: 6 folder: 9
Income Statement
1926
Text box: 6 folder: 10
Income Statement
1927
Text box: 6 folder: 11
Income Statement
1928
Text box: 6 folder: 12
Income Statement
1929
Text box: 6 folder: 13
Prepaid insurance
1924, 1928
Text box: 6 folder: 14
Flat rate delinquents
1929-04
Text box: 6 folder: 15
Taxes
1928-01-1929-06
Text box: 7 folder: 1
Tax reports to State Corporation Division
1950s
Text box: 7 folder: 2
List of dividend payments on stock of Domestic and Resident Corporation
1923-1927
Text box: 7 folder: 3
Materials in transit
1927
Text box: 7 folder: 4
Salaries, Inventory, Certificates and Canceled Certificates
Series V: Company History/Photographs and Miscellaneous Items
Scope and Contents
This series contains two histories written about the Alexandria Water Company, as well as some photocopied photographs of
various reservoirs and pump stations, and miscellaneous materials.
Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 1
History of the Alexandria Water Company, 2 reports
1959-1988
Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 2
Photographs of St. Elmo's Reservoir, Cameron Run Station, and Taylor's Run
1927-1944
Mixed Materials box: 11 folder: 3
Miscellaneous materials pertaining to City of Alexandria
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