A Windmill and the Advent of Indoor Plumbing

The Olcott School (built 1905) is conspicuous in this photo that depicts eight men astride a 60-foot windmill, which they likely had just erected at 20 Olcott Avenue in Bernardsville, NJ.  The slatted fanwheel and tail are just out of view at the top of the frame. 

Windmills like these, a common innovation across the United States, powered pumps that filled attic cisterns, making a gravity supply of water available for early indoor plumbing systems.  This improvement probably predated the installation of a 6” water main in Olcott Avenue around 1908.

The Bernards Water Company was formed by a group of local citizens, led by Samuel Childs.  The Osborn Pond on Madisonville Road heading into Logansville (Harding Township), was its main reservoir.   In 1908, the Company added a 255,000 gallon tank above Old Army Road that served this part of the rapidly growing community.  In addition to domestic water use, the mains were an important feature for firefighting purposes.[1]

The owner of 20 Olcott Avenue, William Rayson Bromfield (1855-1911), operated a hardware store in Bernardsville located at the current Bernards Café.  His wife, Augusta “Gussie” Goltra Bromfield (1855-1941) lived in the home until her passing.   The residence, built around 1900, is a contributing site in the Olcott Avenue Historic District.

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