The "Soda Fountain Developer And Cherry Coke Hero: Part III - The Roaring Brook" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a bit more in my LNP newspaper about Lancaster's "lost river" which still flows freely, but cannot be seen.  As I wrote in yesterday's story, Lancaster's Roaring Brook ran through the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, north to south.  It was fed by a few springs in a wetland along Walnut Street between Mulberry and Charlotte.  Also known as Bethel's Run, the Roaring Brook flowed south to the Conestoga River which crossed from west to east at Engleside.  I can remember Hurricane Agnes that struck Lancaster in 1972 and caused massive flooding throughout the county and caused the Conestoga River to overflow to the south of Lancaster, just about the same location where it's Roaring Brook entered the river.  The brook also had a tributary in Lancaster's SoWe (south-west) section of the city also known as Cabbage Hill.  I recently read in the local newspaper that there were three wetlands in Lancaster by the names of Dark Hazel Swamp, Long Swamp and a wetland in the headwaters of the main stem of Roaring Brook.  These three wetlands also fed Roaring Brook.  

Map of the city of Lancaster, PA.  Click to enlarge.  Three streets to
the left of the little dot close to the center of the map you can see
what appears to be railroad tracks that say Pennsylvania Railroad on
it.  Follow down (south) and you can visualize where they may
 intersect the curling Conestoga River on bottom right.

So, if Lancaster has all these raging water feeders in it, where did the people live?  Well, when Lancaster was established in the early 1700s, most residents had access to nearby water.  Then, the city began to expand and the water began to cause problems for that expansion.  So, if that happened to you, what would you do?  You'd pipe it underground and build over it.  That's exactly what Lancaster did.  They buried all the natural water when they built on top of it.  Did that cause problems?  Yes...No.  They should have planned ahead to make all that water part of their water system for the city, but they didn't.  They piped it underground to the south where it went into the Conestoga River.  To provide drinking water for the residents of the city they had to build a reservoir in 1837 to pipe in water from the Conestoga.  To get rid of all the natural water under the city they dug a trench down the entire length of Water Street (what else would you call this street) and used a huge underground pipe to carry the Roaring Brook to the Conestoga River.  It was this water flowing down Water Street that was used by Dr. Samuel Fahnestock to make his patented seltzer water.

Map of Lancaster showing the water flow running North to
South in the city.  Conestoga River curves it way around the
bottom of the map.

 

Alongside these lines were sewer lines that ran into the city treatment plant at the south of the city.  Now, to top off this flowing of water and sewage north to south, mostly on Water Street, in the late 1800s the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad decided to run railroad lines down the middle of Water Street.  So, the city of Lancaster had freshwater, sewer water and railroad lines all running north and south on Water Street out of the city.  Today, when major storms strike the city of Lancaster, the sewer lines are overwhelmed and at times overflow the treatment plant to the south of Lancaster.  So, the Roaring Brook and Lancaster's sewage system overwhelms the treatment plant and flows into the Conestoga River.  Those living downstream don't dare swim in that mess if possible.  But, in 2011 Lancaster did prepare a plan to slow down the runoff of water in the Roaring Brook into the sewer system.  It's not the same Lancaster that I grew up in three quarters of a century ago, but it does bring back memories from the past, be they good or bad.  Oh, for the good ole days!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.