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Letters to the editor of the Globe Magazine

Readers share memories about “the best local invention we’ve forgotten.”

Concerning Boston’s original Cochituate water supply, as well as the subject of wrenches, let me offer some context (“The Best Local Invention We’ve Forgotten,” December 8). Although unused for over a century, almost all of the 1848 Cochituate Aqueduct survives. It terminated at the Brookline Reservoir on Route 9, whose temple-like granite gatehouse, a National Historic Landmark, is currently undergoing restoration. It was a statement of civic pride, akin the monumental architectural fountains terminating Rome’s aqueducts. As examples of Boston’s early iron industrial heritage, the Brookline Reservoir gatehouse has the oldest structural iron roof system in the United States and the oldest cast iron staircases intended for public use. Also, wrench enthusiasts should visit the Waterworks Museum, opposite the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, where visitors can find a multitude of special size and purpose wrenches for its huge steam pumping engines — some wrenches too large for a single workman to have lifted.

Dennis De Witt, director and past president, Waterworks Museum

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My dad taught me, a girl, how to use a Stillson on our early 1900s heating system. Thanks for the memory.

Harbormistress2

posted on bostonglobe.com


I am surprised that I found this article fascinating. Who knew there was so much to know about wrenches!

C.Kingsfield

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Having grown up in a steam radiator-equipped house, we had several Stillson wrenches. My father always called them by the proper name. The tool looks like a roughly made gizmo, but it is perfect for many applications.

subvet1975

posted on bostonglobe.com

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