Ruins of Durham Pump Station Lie Beside the Eno River in North Carolina
The remains of an 1800s pump house and dam that once supplied water to Durham, North Carolina, stand by the Eno River. The site can be reached only on foot.
Beside the Eno River near Durham, in the US state of North Carolina, stand the ruins of an old pump station. The site is listed in the catalog of Atlas Obscura, a website that collects unusual and little-known places around the world, as a destination for visitors.
What remains
The ruins consist of a pump house and a dam built in the 1800s. They once supplied Durham with water, and they kept doing so until 1927. After that year the structures no longer served the city's water supply, and what is left now sits on the riverbank.
According to the Atlas Obscura description, the location lies in scenic surroundings along the Eno. It can be reached only by foot, so visitors need to plan on a walk.
Similar sites in the same catalog
The website's list of related places names other dams and water structures. These include the ruins of Tumalo Dam in Bend, Oregon, Hungry Horse Dam in Montana, described as the tallest dam in that state, and Ancien Barrage Hastière in Belgium, where a dam helped tame the Meuse River in the 19th century. The list also features an ancient Roman cistern, the Cave of Hercules in Toledo, Spain.
Durham Pump Station is one example of how historic municipal infrastructure, once it has gone out of use, can become a local point of interest set in natural surroundings.
