From our October 2024 issue
After a pair of blazes swept through their downtown in the second half of the 1800s, people in this neck of the woods realized they needed a reliable municipal water source. A dam would provide a reservoir on the river, and a pump house — the comely brick building — would funnel plenty of water to hydrants in town (the cupola, added during World War II, offered a perch from which to keep an eye out for enemy vessels in the nearby bay). The dam had to be rebuilt after floodwaters burst through it in 1943, but its usefulness waned in the decades to come. Now, the municipality draws all its water from several large wells, and an aquaculture company wants to use the dam site for a salmon farm, a proposal that has resulted in tense political and legal wrangling. The land there remains placid for now, though, with access to a woodsy trail that traces the edge of the river. Many people glimpse this lovely scene while traveling at 50-plus miles an hour across a short bridge, but it’s worth slowing down for, at least a little.
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