Pump House (no2)
Stamp Mills required millions of gallons of water - every day - in order to operate. This enormous thirst necessitated a nearby water source and the construction of large steam-powered water pumps to transport that water to the mill. At Quincy that source of water was Torch Lake itself, with the pumps built some distance from the shore. Feeding those pumps was a man-made tunnel which was run from the lake shore up to and underneath the pump house. It was this tunnel that we stumbled across soon after leaving the old coal dock.
The tunnel was lined with bricks on its upper arch and poor rock along its sides. According to HAER documents, this tunnel was 100 feet in length, and about 7 feet wide. Looking down its length we could see light at the other end, and a pile of debris almost blocking it. The water level in the tunnel now was only a few inches, but most likely when it was built the water was much higher. ( By the marking along the walls it looks like that level could of been almost up to the bricks)
Climbing up on top we took a stroll to find the other end. We found it at the bottom of a pit filled with debris and brush. At first we though the tunnel had collapsed, but by the looks of the smooth face of the brick archway it appeared as if the tunnel was originally designed to only run this far.
Sitting inside the pit along with the tunnel entrance was this pipe, which looked to once have a valve attached. This might of been the feeder pipe to the pump itself, whose foundation we could see right behind here.
All that is left of the pump house was the red-brick foundation seen here. This is to be expected, since the building that housed the pump was made from steel and most likely was taken down for scrap. Quincy built two mills at this location; the first mill was built in 1890 and still stands to some degree along the highway, the second mill was built next door in 1899. This is in fact the remains to the no. 2 pump house, serving the second mill.
This engine foundation was very similar to most other hoist foundations we have seen. It was built from red brick and was punctuated at its top by a series of threaded rods. These rods were no doubt attached to the engine above and were anchored into the brick foundation through the use of these large nuts seen here.
A few things were different then what we were accustomed to. First was the fact that the entire foundation seemed to have been sliced in half. It was no more then four to five feet wide, hardly large enough to support a steam engine. As you can see looking closely at its face in this photo, the broken bricks and bent bars would seem to back up that claim.
A second unique feature were these “cuts” in the foundation. They were sloped and seemed to suggest a wheel or other circular object sat in this groove. Notice how the bricks were laid on the inside of the curve - an interesting detail. While not shown on Explore yet, we have come across these grooves in a few other foundations as of late, most notably at Ahmeek #2. So there’s precedent.
We took a walk around to the backside of the ruin when we came across this interesting marking. It would seem to suggest someone took a photo of this thing (photo #13?). Similar blue numbers are found on a few other ruins we discover later, so I’m sure its all connected.
Here is a rear view of the foundation. I find the attention to detail remarkable in a foundation. Notice the stepped bricks at the top - which probably serve no purpose other then aesthetic. This angle illustrates perfectly the height of this thing, easily a dozen feet high. This is much, much higher then any other hoist foundation we have every seen. Either this pump was HUGE or this isn’t a foundation. (a wall perhaps?) I’m still pretty sure it was a pump though.
Here is the same pump house while it was still in operation (Its the square building on the right). Supposedly the building was steel, but this photo makes it look like it could of all been built from brick. Most of the building is long gone, only the foundation to the pump itself is now evident - which was buried inside that building where we can’t see.
Moving on…