The Framingham Reservoir No. 3 Dam and Gatehouse is a historic waterworks facility in

Framingham, Massachusetts Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popu ...

. The dam and gatehouse are located at the southeastern end of Framingham Reservoir No. 3, off

Massachusetts Route 9 Route 9 is a major east–west state highway in Massachusetts. Along with U.S. Route 20 (US 20), Route 2, and Interstate 90, Route 9 is one of the major east–west routes of Massachusetts. The western terminus is near the center of the cit ...

. They were built 1876–78 as part of an expansion of the public water supply of the city of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. The dam is long, and impounds an area of in the

Sudbury River The Sudbury River is a tributary of the Concord River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 Originati ...

watershed. The reservoir is the largest of the three Framingham reservoirs that were built at that time. The dam's core is constructed of granite rubble laid in cement. There is a granite-lined overfall area long, which was originally topped by flashboards. At the end of the overfall area nearest Route 9 stands the gatehouse, a granite structure with a rectangular main block and a smaller wing. Both sections have a steeply pitched slate roof. The door is in a round-arch recess, and the building is capped by a cupola. It houses controls for two mains connected to the Sudbury Aqueduct via the gatehouse at Reservoir No. 1. The water is directed either directly beyond the dam into reservoir 1 or through the 4-foot mains to the Sudbury Aqueduct gatehouse. The dam was built by contractors from

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, and the gatehouse was built by Benjamin Dewing of Boston to a design by the Boston city architect, George Clough. Since its construction, the reservoir, which is also known as the Foss Reservoir, has been connected by an open channel to the

Sudbury Reservoir The Sudbury Reservoir (2.02 square miles) is an emergency backup Boston metropolitan water reservoir in Massachusetts, located predominantly in Southborough and Marlborough, with small sections in Westborough and Framingham. It was created when t ...

(in 1898), and had its shore areas resurfaced (in 1907–08). Nearly all of the reservoir's water comes from the Sudbury Reservoir as its own natural watershed is very limited. Of the Framingham Reservoirs, Reservoir #3 is the only one that was regularly used throughout its time as an active water source due to its better water quality than the reservoirs to the south. The reservoir is no longer in active service though it is maintained as an emergency source. It is the only one of the Framingham reservoirs still maintained as an emergency source. The dam and gatehouse were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Framingham Reservoir No. 3 Dam And Gatehouse Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Framingham, Massachusetts Gatehouses (waterworks) Reservoirs in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Dams in Massachusetts Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places 1876 establishments in Massachusetts

See also

References