Approximately two weeks ago, an ancient, underground, cast-iron pipe was discovered that runs from the Marion Town House toward the Elizabeth Taber Library and all the way to the front of Sippican Elementary School.
“We know it runs up to the front of the school. When they were renovating the school, they came across it,” said Marion Facilities Manager Shawn Cormier. “In the eight years I’ve been working here, I’ve always heard about a tunnel, and it was just cool to discover it.”
Part of the Town House renovation includes putting electric wiring underground, and the dig that runs along the north side of the Town House from Spring Street led to a surprise.
“We were pulling up a stump from an old tree in the way for the new underground service. That stump was directly on top of the trench,” said Cormier, among workers who saw a hole in the ground. “I thought it was a dry well at first, but we started digging a little more and we could see brick walls and pipes. It was a pretty amazing discovery, we never expected that.”
Marion was among the earlier towns to install water and sewer infrastructure, so speculation naturally abounds as to the tunnel’s origin. One theory is that Elizabeth Taber installed it to feed steam, water, and sewer to each of her properties on Spring Street. That would date the tunnel back to the 19th century.
The original Tabor Academy schoolhouse became Marion’s Town House. Next door is the Taber Library. The boarding house one door north on Spring Street was demolished, but the Taber House (her residence) was preserved and transported to Cottage Street.
“There are existing sewer lines in that tunnel that are being used, so we’re going put a manhole over a portion of that trench so the history won’t get lost when we bury it,” said Cormier, who is looking to learn about the advent of sewer in the area.
By Mick Colageo