History of the Service Authority - Part 1 - 1948 to 1959

The Service Authority as we know it today is experiencing a serious public relations challenge. With aging infrastructure, water quality issues, and sub-standard customer service, the Service Authority is frequently in the news for all the wrong reasons. At a recent Town Hall hosted by Supervisor Jeff Bueche, the event ran much longer than planned and only a handful of questions and comments were not related to the issues facing the County’s largest water supplier.

In an effort to better understand how the Service Authority came to where it is today, we felt it was necessary to first research how it came into existence and then share with the community as a whole what we found. As it stands now, the Service Authority services about 4,100 customers in King George County. Of those customers, most are water only customers. The customers are served by nine different water systems and five wastewater treatment plants.

The Service Authority as we know it today wasn’t formed until 1992 and didn’t really begin operating until 1994. But the history behind where we are now began long before that. Beginning in the late 1940s, King George County began discussing the need for a centralized water system. By 1948, George Glasco was appointed as “a roving committee of one” to talk to potential customers, or as they were called then, subscribers. The need for the centralized water system was driven by the King George Volunteer Fire Department. They had recently received property donated by Conor Clare to build a fire house in the Courthouse area but they had no public source for water to help fight fires.

While the fire department was looking for a source of water, the local water and sewer systems were all owned by private individuals. Those systems fell under the “advice and supervision” of the local Sanitation Officer, Ben I. Johns and later Robert Lindsay Albinson. Dr. Hubert Dinwiddie Crow was the local Health Officer in charge of the local Health District that covered several area counties. When Albinson was appointed as the new Sanitation Officer, he had to cover fifteen counties and Fredericksburg City. He would be replaced within a year by Richard A. Johnson.

In 1951, Mr. Sydnor of Sydnor Pump and Well Company, met with the local Ruritan Club to talk about a potential water system. Things continued to progress in King George and local areas as Spotsylvania County wrote and passed an ordinance for sewer systems in 1952. King George would follow suit with one in 1953. Dr. Crow presented the new ordinance for permits for “sewerage disposal systems.” The ordinance would cover new construction or repairs made to existing systems. Dr. Crow’s aim was to help prevent the “typhoid fever menace” that was present in various parts of the county. Prior to the new ordinance being passed in 1953, there were no previously existing rules to govern water and sewer.

Septic Tank requirements

Dr. Crow would continue to serve as Health Director until 1956 when he was replaced by Dr. Frederick J. Spencer, one of his trainees. Dr. Crow would die shortly after in 1957. Dr. Spencer’s son, Tony Spencer, would go on to become the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Caroline County for a period of time.

Dr. Crow’s efforts for a sanitary water and sewer system and the fire department’s need of a constant and stable water supply would be the foundation of what would eventually become the King George County Service Authority. Even then, water quality and the health and safety of the general public were on the minds of local leaders. With new laws put into place, the County had a foundation for enforcing rules that would protect the public from disease. With a public water supply, the fire department could better respond to fires. These are just small steps towards becoming the Service Authority of today.

Stay tuned as we continue to research the history of the King George County Service Authority.