The Great Columbus Experiment of 1908: Waterworks that Changed the World

Conrade C. Hinds

• Publisher: The History Press
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781609497798
• eBook ISBN:
  9781614236856
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

After Senator Marcus Hanna, a presidential hopeful at the turn of the twentieth century, contracted typhoid from Columbus tap water and died soon after, the embarrassed city rushed into action. The Columbus Experiment was born. Scientists and a group of nationally renowned men who were taught the science of sanitary engineering at MIT by a forgotten and uncredited female chemist devised a plan and mobilized an army of workers into action, in spite of the ceaseless internal strife of city politicians. The result was a water-treatment system that virtually eliminated the scourge of typhoid, cholera and many other waterborne diseases from the civilized world, saving millions of lives. Join Conrade C. Hinds and the Columbus Landmarks Foundation in exploring the waterworks that changed the world.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Waterborne Diseases, Pioneers and Connections
• Chapter 2. Civil War: Disease Deaths
• Chapter 3. The Chicago Fire Era and Changing Nature: The Era of Midwestern Problem Solving
• Chapter 4. Famous Victims
• Chapter 5. The Great Generation of the Nineteenth Century
• Chapter 6. Firefighting Versus Disease
• Chapter 7. New Pump Stations, an Electric Plant and Other Equipment
• Chapter 8. The Need for a Dam
• Chapter 9. McKinley, Hanna and Roosevelt
• Chapter 10. Hanna’s Death Played Out in the Columbus Press
• Chapter 11. New Stars of the Twentieth Century
• Chapter 12. Land Acquisition and a New Dam
• Chapter 13. Water and Equipment
• Chapter 14. Wastewater Plant
• Chapter 15. Results and Operation
• Chapter 16. After the Columbus Experiment and the Players’ Fleeting Fame
• Chapter 17. The Challenges of the Twenty-first Century
• Epilogue: The Hinds Family Connection to the Columbus Experiment
• Appendix: Headlines 1903–1908
• Bibliography
• About the Author