Ahead of you are the high steep twin gables of the second oldest building still standing in Trinidad. This was the water works building constructed in 1879. It housed the pump that pushed water from a deep well right beside the river to a reservoir on a hill above town (still called Reservoir Hill and now the site of a modern metal reservoir that is part of the city’s water system.) From there, the water flowed by gravity through pipes to the homes of subscribers. It was a private enterprise, owned and operated by Delos Chappell, whose mansion is on the East Main Street walk. At first, he had trouble getting subscribers to his new waterworks, although the alternative was buying water by the bucket from vendors whose horse-drawn wagons circled through town selling from open barrels taken directly from the river, upstream of which everyone knew cattle waded, drank, and—well, you know. Part of his problem was that Mr. Chappell himself didn’t subscribe, which led to all sorts of rumors about the quality of the water. His mansion had its own built-in water system. Another problem was his rates, which sound extortionately high and certainly must have led to Saturday-night-only baths. The city bought the waterworks in the 1890s.
At the intersection of Convent and Cedar Streets, we intercept the River Walk, which has skirted the edge of the park and here crosses the street beside the Waterworks Building to continue beside the river. It is a lovely walk with interesting history markers that you’ll want to enjoy. Save it for another day. For now, turn right on Cedar Street, staying on the south side where there is a sidewalk.
Until recently, this was a deserted, seedy warehouse district with railroad tracks down the middle of the potholed street. Hardly anyone ever even drove down it. But then the bank built here, the city took up the tracks and re-bricked the street, and several of the warehouses were imaginatively refurbished. The first one across the street from you was the home of the Mason Candy Company, that started as a creamery, branched into ice cream, and then into candy, boxes of which were prized throughout the region. However, when the last Mason retired, no one took over and the sturdy building stood forlorn for more than 40 years.
Return to Commercial Street and turn left (north) toward the river. In the early 1900s, when the coal fields were busy and Trinidad was booming, this lower part of Commercial Street, relatively quiet now, bustled and teemed with the comings and goings of business in the mercantile establishments that lined both sides. The street cars, whose rails went up the middle of the street, often had to stop and clang their bells until someone urged a recalcitrant team out of the way. Normal traffic could not get through and it was dangerous for pedestrians to cross.
Much of the trouble was caused by independent draymen, each with his sturdy wagon pulled by mules or big draft horses, who would arrive early and line the street on both sides to have an advantageous position for a freight-hauling job. They vied with each other, shouting and cursing, and making dangerous dashes for good parking places. And they caused patrons to have to “double park” while they shopped, thus blocking the street. Finally in 1908, city council passed an ordinance requiring the draymen to wait in off-street spaces until they had a job. It worked, sort of, when there was a policeman around, but traffic on Commercial remained congested and dangerous.
