Born in Pittsburgh, Scowden attended college in Kentucky and then found employment in the 1830s in Cincinnati in the steam engine industry. In 1845, he was elected engineer of that city's water works. His modern redesign of that city's system in 1846 caught the attention of many, including Cleveland's city government. In 1852, he was hired by Cleveland to design its water works system. By 1853, he had completed the task which included, in addition to the Kentucky Street Reservoir, the design and construction of an aqueduct out in Lake Erie, an engine house on Old River Street (Division Avenue) and many miles of pipeline. After completing his work in Cleveland, Scowden went on to design other municipal water works systems in the United States. In 1864, he returned to Cleveland, where he purchased and resided in a grand mansion on Euclid Avenue. He was a resident of Cleveland when he died in 1881. | Source: Joblin, Maurice. Cincinnati, Past and Present, or its Industrial History as Exhibited in the Life-Labors of its Leading Men. (Elm Street Printing Co., Cincinnati, 1872)Download Original File
Source
Joblin, Maurice. Cincinnati, Past and Present, or its Industrial History as Exhibited in the Life-Labors of its Leading Men. (Elm Street Printing Co., Cincinnati, 1872)
