City plans to cover old well

• Cistern was part of water supply for long-forgotten farm.

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Deep within a thorn-tangled grove of old trees and collapsed buildings, a large in-ground cistern is causing concern for some Whiteville city officials.

The cistern was part of a water system used on the Smith horse and mule farm. Once one of the largest and finest operations in the area, the farm fell into disuse and disrepair in the 1950s. The main stable on the property burned a number of years ago.

City officials asked that the exact location of the farm not be published, to prevent curiosity-seekers and scrap metal hunters from trespassing on the site.

A storage barn and the well-house are still standing, and on a recent inspection by City Manager Josh Ray and Police Chief Jerry Britt, the two intact buildings appeared to be in stable condition. The problem, officials say, is the approximately 18-foot-wide cistern inside one of the buildings.

“I remember checking this area when I was a patrol officer,” Britt said. “It doesn’t appear to have changed much.”

Heavy planks form a partial cover over the masonry structure, and support what appears to have been part of a large pump. Like the remaining foundations of the other farm buildings on the property, the cistern’s circular brick walls are an example of unusual craftsmanship for such a pedestrian structure.

“Somebody knew what they were doing when they built this,” Ray said, peering over the smoothed edge of the cistern into the black water below.

A large, sheet-iron tank stands atop brick piers outside the well house. Rusted remains of pipes show where water apparently was transferred from the cistern to the storage tank, then to the various residences, stables and other buildings on the farm. Similar systems at other farms used a mechanical pump to pull water from a cistern or well to an aboveground tank. The system is very similar to modern municipal water towers.

Rusted beer cans and broken wine bottles are scattered about the two standing buildings, but Britt said the buildings have apparently not been turned into “party houses” – at least not yet.

“Usually when people find a place like this, they make use of it,” he said, noting the derelict farm’s proximity to nearby housing developments. “People will come out to a place like this to smoke pot or whatever else, and pretty soon someone drops a cigarette and it burns down.”

Ray said Tuesday that City Planner Lainie Johnston is attempting to contact the owners of the property about securing the buildings. Johnston is also scheduled to inspect the site in the near future.

The city doesn’t currently consider the structures an official nuisance, Ray said, but the open cistern is a concern.
“A small child could fall in there and disappear,” he said, dropping a brick fragment toward the still water, “and we’d have no idea.”

He said Whiteville Fire Chief John Cook will also inspect the buildings.

While inspecting the structures, Ray said he was amazed by the detail of some of the handiwork exhibited in the buildings. He agreed it would be a shame to see the buildings destroyed, but the old cistern is “an accident waiting to happen.”

“At the very least,” Ray said, “we want to see that well covered. That’s a potential hazard. We’re not looking at a code enforcement issue right now – it’s just an old building, a very cool old building.”