1886 Richmond Water Company > Maine bond certificate

Old Stock Yard Collectible Stock and Bond Certificates

Richmond Water Company

Original $500 bond certificate

1886 - Richmond, Maine

Hand signed by founders, and company officers, Weston Lewis and Josiah Maxcy

Several coupons still attached

Attractive certificate with beautiful vignette

More information about the Richmond Water Company:
The Richmond Water Utility has a rich history. Weston Lewis and Josiah Maxcy of Gardiner founded the system in 1886. They were called the Richmond Water Company. Their source was the Kennebec River. They had a steam pump that pumped 600 gallons per minute of water to a 750,000 gallon open reservoir. There were 54 dwellings, 4 barns, 1 dairy farm, and 4 stores when the system was started. In 1898 they defaulted on their loan payment  and the Richmond Water Company was purchased by a group of bond holders at auction for $42,000. A new corporation was born under the name of Richmond Waterworks where it stayed from 1898 to 1978.

In 1917 it became apparent that the quality of the Kennebec River was worsening and the Waterworks set up a purification system. In 1920, after several complaints about water quality, the Maine Public Utilities Commission stepped in and ordered the Waterworks to install a filtration plant. In addition they condemned the Town of Richmond for discharging sewage waste into the Kennebec River upstream of the water intake. In 1954 the Waterworks was forced to find another source due to the continued deterioration of the Kennebec River. It was well known that there was a gravel bed over on the other side of the river in Dresden. They had harvested gravel out of it for years but they had gotten to the point where there was too much groundwater for them to operate the gravel pit. R. E. Chapman came in and drilled a 60 foot gravel packed well that pumped 600 gallons per minute. Thirty eight hundred feet of river crossing was installed and the new source was put into service.

In 1964 the Richmond Utilities District was created as a quasi municipal entity. Richmond was the second community on the Kennebec River to have a working and operating collection and waste water treatment system. In 1976, after several years of financial trouble, the Richmond Utilities District purchased the Richmond Waterworks. They conducted a capital improvement plan. Since then there have been several improvements. They replaced the open reservoir with a welded steel 500,000 gallon tank. In 1989 the primary waste water treatment plant was upgraded to a secondary plant that is still in operation today. We have installed a second water storage vessel and have extended water and sewer mains and made many upgrades across the system. ~Information from the 2009 Journal of the Maine Water Utilities Association

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FAQs:
Are you your certificates authentic or copies?
Everything I sell is original and authentic. I do not sell copies or reproductions.

Is the certificate pictured the exact one I will receive?
Usually, yes. Occasionally, I do list certificates of the same type without rescanning. In this case, the certificate you receive will be virtually identical (same color, size, vignette, etc.) to the one pictured. Again, if you ever receive anything from me you are not 100% pleased with, you can return it for a full refund.

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The best thing, by far, that I have come across for storing certificates are profolios and sleeves made by Itoya. You can purchase them in my eBay store. I have several sizes available.