A section of wood water main that the Lansing Board of Water and Light excavated in downtown Lansing, Michigan, circa 2000. It may have been installed to serve the Capitol Building around 1879.

The wood pipe in these four photos appears to be the machined type that came along after the Civil War when the machinery was available to take a log and machine the outside, and then machine auger out the interior flow-carrying area.

Wyckoff Pipe, manufactured by the Michigan Pipe Co. of Bay City, MI, made their wood pipe in a way that looked similar to these photos (starting in the 1880's), but they used strapping and a separate machined wood spline to in effect create the bell and spigot joint for their wood pipe. In these photos, it appears the spigot protrusion is integral to the barrel, not a separate spline (to form the spigot).

Source: Mark Witalec, surveyor for the Lansing Board of Water and Light, and Timothy S. Hogg, Engineering Technician / GIS, Delta Charter Township, Lansing, MI.

Wood log pipes in Holly, Michigan.

Located in the far northwestern hills of Michigan’s Oakland County, Holly is a vibrant community with a rich cultural heritage rooted in commerce and transportation. In 1864, Holly became the first Michigan community with a railroad junction, called the Holly and Flint line. The Holly, Wayne and Monroe Railroad was introduced in 1870 and later consolidated with the Holly and Flint line to become the Flint and Pere Marquette. The railroad brought new growth to the village, and Holly quickly developed into more than just a whistle stop. By the 20th century, homes, schools, churches and businesses took root and provided the very foundation for a community that still thrives today.

The summer of 2007 marked the beginning of an $800,000 streetscape project, designed to freshen up downtown Holly while at the same time, maintaining the quaint Midwestern village style for which Holly is best known. Construction crews unearthed some of Holly’s earliest infrastructural artifacts including this thimble that was used to join two Wyckoff wooden pipe segments. It is believed the village purchased the wooden water pipe system from Bay City Pipes out of Bay City, Michigan sometime in the late 1800s.