Century-old history surfaces from beneath Pineview reservoir

HUNTSVILLE — As Pineview Reservoir reaches some of the lowest levels seen in more than 50 years, some century-old structures are resurfacing, drawing upon people's curiosity.

The sudden interest in the area's past was somewhat exciting for people in the Ogden city recorder's office, where records of a series of artesian wells have been preserved, starting in 1914.

Tonya Gonzales, a deputy city recorder, said such detailed records were not so common during that time.

"The fact that they kept them was impressive for us," Gonzales said of the city record-keepers back then. "It's fun. It's nice to see that somebody from 1914 preserved something so well that we can still access it today."

Responding to questions and discussion from the public, Ogden City posted a small collection of some of those early images online. Among images posted by people on its social media pages were the remnants of buildings, pipes and an unusual-looking structure that some jokingly referred to as a "portal to another world."

"I was like, that's the intake! I know it, I know it!" Gonzales exclaimed, adding that she can't be entirely sure. "I'm pretty sure that that's what it is ... the wood, the pipes, everything around it."

Gonzales pointed to a picture, showing a confluence of wells, flowing into a single structure in the ground.

"It was actually where all the wells pumped the water to that intake, and then that intake fed the water line that came down the canyon," she explained.

Before the reservoir was constructed and filled, some 51 artesian wells were constructed in the area, supplying fresh water to people in Ogden and the surrounding area.

Workers with Ogden are currently working on a $100 million upgrade of a 6.4-mile pipeline that sends water from the reservoir to Ogden.

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