GC3V5E0 Traditional Cache History Magic #1
Type: Traditional | Size: Micro Micro | Difficulty: 2.5 out of 5 | Terrain: 1.5 out of 5
By: Pixel Magic @ | Hide Date: 08/21/2012 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 36.940 W105° 08.420 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0

We discovered this building while out driving in the North Fort Collins area. Thought this looked like a wonderful place to hide a cache.



Road is busy. Park in driveway but be respectful of others who may be touring the building.

Will need tweezers to extract. Happy hunting.
Water Works

Fort Collins, CO 80521


In 1880, the Fort Collins Board of Trustees began to deliberate about the town's need for a better water supply system. Water for household and commercial use was either delivered by the "water wagon" or dipped from a nearby irrigation canal. The threat of devastating fires loomed because most of the town's structures were wood frame construction.

Serious discussion about a water works arose after Jacob Welch's first dry goods store burned in February 1880. Several plans for water delivery systems were discussed, but when one of the proposals came to the voters, they rejected it. After another fire destroyed the new Keystone Block in September 1882, the town's voters finally agreed on a plan. Work began immediately.

The $77,000 project included construction of a canal that diverted water from the Cache la Poudre River above Laporte to a reservoir behind the pump house site. The Gothic-style pump house used sandstone from the Stout quarries and soft brick manufactured locally. It housed two American Water Wheel Company turbines and two Holly-Gaskill pumps to force water to Fort Collins through wrought iron pipes.

Completed in June 1883, tests of the system made headline news in the local newspapers. Initially, the townspeople were slow to sign up for water service because they were reluctant to commit to the additional expense. Many more households subscribed to the system by the 1890s, and the first ten years of its operation were deemed a success.

Then came outbreaks of disease, and complaints about water quality mounted. Even with the two new additions to the pump house building for a steam engine and a filtration system, the community outgrew its first water system by 1900. In 1905, a new water delivery system at the confluence of the Cache la Poudre River and the North Fork replaced the 1882-1883 Fort Collins Water Works.

The Poudre Landmarks Foundation and the Friends of the Water Works administers the ongoing preservation work at the water works property. Eventually, it will become an interpretive center for water development and use in the Fort Collins area. The State Historical Fund, a part of the Colorado Historical Society, provided several grants to complete planning, stabilization, and archaeological investigations at the property.

Information from Poudre Landmark Foundation

If interested in a tour, the building is open on Second Saturdays of the month from June through October. From 10 to 3PM

Congratulations to egroeg38 for his quick FTF!
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 Logs

13 Logs: Found it 11  Write note 1  Owner Maintenance 1  

Found it 06/27/2019 By n2o2RnR
Nice hide! Interesting bit of FtC history.

Found it 05/18/2019 By Pohka
Nice one, would have been good if it was a virtual too (yes, Pohka’s are greedy). A fairly quick find, appreciate the hide.

Found it 03/28/2019 By jamadad
Thanks for maintaining these caches. That was a tough log to get out, but worth it.

Found it 08/31/2018 By GeoDave81
Found it but couldn't tell if there was a log or not.TFTC

Found it 08/29/2018 By artguru20@gmail.com
Found with chuppalloop. What a cool place! Loved the big tree and getting to read the history. TFTC!

Found it 08/29/2018 By chuppalloop
Tftc found with artguru20.

Found it 08/27/2018 By mikejf57
Visiting Fort Collins from Phoenix Arizona and I am out and about sightseeing and getting some caches. Had a great time finding a bunch of caches and enjoyed all the scenery in the process. Thank you Pixel Magic for placing this cache for us to find.

Found it 08/18/2018 By rangerhal
Catching up with logging some finds. Sneaky hide. Thanks for the cache!

Found it 07/05/2018 By AbvAvg
Out for caches to earn some souvenirs. Found and signed logsheet. Thanks for the cache.

Found it 06/09/2018 By molamolamermaid
Visiting from NC with the family, and grabbed this one while visiting the water works. TFTC!

Found it 05/11/2018 By Ency21
On our tour from Cheyenne to Estes Park found we this cache quickly. Thanks for showing!Greetings from Germany from Team Ency21

Owner Maintenance 03/13/2018 By Pixel Magic
Came by today to check on cache. Found it to be missing. Replaced with a new container and log. Ready to be found.

Write note 03/02/2018 By iatravlr
Has not been accessed since 7/02/2016 and that cacher listed it as a DNF. After looking for quite some time decided it was futile to continue searching. Perhaps the CO might want to check and see if this cache is still at GZ. Appears that there has been lots of shrubbery growth over the past number of months.