The Princeton Water Works was first built in 1893-94 by a corporation composed of T.R. Paxton, W.P. Welborn, J.H. Miller, S.F. Gilmore, R.M. Parrett, A.P. Twineham, W.D. Downey, John W. Ewing, Harry Kurtz, Samuel Warnock, Robert Warnock and others. When the great fire of 1893 almost wiped Princeton off the map the water mains were just being laid into the city. The experience was one, which impressed everybody with the urgent necessity of good fire protection, and the works were pushed to completion rapidly.
The powerhouse and standpipe of the water works was situated two miles north of the city near Severn's Bridge, on the Patoka River, which is the source from which the water is secured. The standpipe was seventy-five feet high and twenty feet in diameter and had a capacity of 200,000 gallons. The top of the standpipe was 150 feet above the level of the public square that's the reason this site was selected. That gave an average pressure of from fifty to seventy-five pounds per square inch. Surrounding the station was a plot of ground containing ten acres upon which was a neat cottage where the engineer, Mr. C.E. Seebern, made his home.
The powerhouse contained two interchangeable pumping engines, with a daily capacity of 1,000,000 and 1,250,000 gallons respectively. Although the standpipe system was the normal method of operation, the water works could have been converted into a pumping pressure system in a few moments. In the event of an accident to any of the standpipe apparatus either or both of the pumps can be employed to supply the pressure.
In 1899 over fifteen miles of pipe had been laid in the city. The works was supplying 119 fire hydrants and 400 private taps besides the entire Air Line shops.
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