Sugar Hollow Reservoir: A Cool Drink of Water By Phil James
Nothing satisfies the thirst like a good, cool drink of water.
For the wary citizens of Charlottesville in the early 1920s, a
very un-satisfying sight was the dwindling reserve of potable
water adjacent to their new Lewis Mountain water filter plant.
By the fall of 1923, a variety of groups and individuals were
using the pulpit of Charlottesville’s Daily Progress newspaper
to trumpet the impending crisis: “DON’T WASTE WATER! Waste now
means ruin later… The situation is critical… Visit the reservoir
and see how little is left for urgent need… Saving is our only
salvation…” Engineering firms evaluated a half dozen or more
possible sources for additional water supply and unanimously
pointed toward Moorman’s River in western Albemarle County, with
its Blue Ridge Mountains watershed stretching from Jarman’s Gap
to Brown’s Gap. A decision was made to construct an intake near
William James’s ford in Sugar Hollow, near the confluence of the
south and north f