Early water supply pipe, Grand Junction, Colorado 1883 7th Street between Chipeta and Ouray Avenues Grand Junction Mesa Colorado 81501 USA According to several downtown residents and oral history interviewees, a standpipe once stood at the intersection of Ouray Avenue and Seventh Street. According to 1883 issues of the Grand Junction News, the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, which owned many of the plats in Grand Junction, built a pipeline to provide drinking water to the town at the same time that it developed water resources for the railroad. The railroad pumped water from the Gunnison River. The November 7, 1883 issue of the news proclaimed that the water “piping across the bridge is all enclosed and working”. The water was considered unclean by many residents. It was found to carry many diseases, including Diphtheria. The city then developed water resources in Kannah Creek to supply Grand Junction, and use of the standpipe was discontinued. Silmon (Laird) Smith, whose father was on the city council and working toward improving the town’s drinking supply, claims that the water originally came from the Colorado River and then was switched to the Gunnison River. Perhaps the water supply was switched to the Colorado for a time after 1883, and then switched back to the Gunnison before Kannah Creek resources were developed. yes yes