EXTENT: .625 linear feet (1 container)

ORGANIZATION: Six series: I. General records, 1953–1983; II. Maps and plans, 1951–1974; III. Quantitative reports, 1961–1973; IV. Extension records, 1953–1972; V. Meter installation records, 1974-1981; VI. Keys.

HISTORY: Conantum was the first large real estate development in Concord, built in the 1950’s and managed by the Kalmia Woods Corporation. Town inhabitants didn’t welcome the enterprise, and its authorities refused to connect Conantum to their water system. Thus, its 100 residents built their own system, and the Kalmia Woods Water District became the smallest one in Massachusetts. As early as 1953, they started to fluoridate the drinking water, among the first water supplies to do so. Thirty years later, after years of preparation, the district was dissolved and the town took over, in 1983.

SCOPE AND CONTENT: Records (1953–1983) include: minutes, management reports, financial statements, balance sheets, memoranda, correspondence, e.g., with all or individual residents of Conantum, the Town of Concord (Department of Public Works), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and others (accountants, insurance company, lawyer, etc.). Also: maps, plans, drawings, quantitative reports, notes, advertisements, invoices, charts, and keys. Series IV consists of records relating to petitions to extent the area of the water district. The records are fragmentary and may be supplemented with records concerning the water district in the Records of Kalmia Woods Corporation, 1951–<1996>.

SOURCE OF ACQUISITION: Gift of Bette Aschaffenburg, fall 1999.

ASSOCIATED MATERIALS: Records of Kalmia Woods Corporation, 1951–<1996> (Series IV. Water District, 1953–1996), and Records of the Conantum Garden Club, 1953–1995.

NOTES/COMMENTS: Accessioned on November 25, 2000; AMC 046.

PROCESSED BY: Ásdís Káradóttir, November 2000; finding aid prepared in December 2000.
 
 

Folder 2 .
1975–1981, includes net consumption costs, correspondence, memoranda, minutes, balance sheets, management reports, and financial statements.

Folder 3.
1982–1983, includes correspondence with lawyer and the Town of Concord, regarding the dissolution of the district, and with public accountants, memoranda, and financial reports.
 
 

Folder 5.
Plans from 1955 and 1957 of the water system connection to each house of the district, with later annotations (1970–1971), regarding which plans are ok and which require pole no. or other fixes.
 
 

Folder 7.
Water analysis reports, made weekly to the Massachusetts Public Health, 1961–1970, and 3 from 1973, and instructions for submitting routine chemical samples.
 
 

Folder 9.
Franklin R. Johnson, 1970–1972; includes the petition of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, and their correspondence with the commissioners of the district, regarding the inclusion of the Johnson’s property.