Jamaica-Pond Aqueduct opens.

Engineer: Loammi Baldwin Jr. Operated by the Jamaica-Pond Aqueduct Company, the 18-mile gravity system of hollowed-out pine log pipes runs from the northeast corner of the pond. The first public water service in Boston, it supplies some 400,000 gallons of water per day to some 1,500 households mainly in the Summer/Essex/Pleasant streets areas, as well as to several public hydrants in the West End and Fort Hill. Jamaica Pond serves as Boston’s water supply until 1848* and to Roxbury until 1874. The city buys back the company’s water right and property in 1851 and purchases the pond in 1886.*