The pumphouse at the Danbury Fairgrounds on Segar Street was erected in 1910 by the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Locomotives use more water than coal, and trackside structures like this were common along the right of way in the days of steam. Adjacent to the pumphouse was a water tower, and along the tracks of the Maybrook Freight Line were two gravity-fed stand pipes, one beside the eastbound track and one beside the westbound track.

Inside the water tower was a float switch that was connected to a General Electric relay board in the pumphouse. When there was a demand for water, a five horsepower motor turned the pump, and water from the Still River filled the tower. We do not know who manufactured the pump (no markings or similar looking pumps have been found by researchers), and it is threfore assumed the pump was designed and built by the railroad. By the late 1940s, diesel locomotives had become the norm, and the role of the pumphouse went the way of steam locomotives.

In the 1980s, the water tower was set aflame in an act of vandalism and burned down. By 1997, the roof of the building had caved in, and much of the structure had decayed. Volunteers Dave McKee, Paul Gassner, and Bernie Balon were led by John Ivansco in restoring the building at its Segar Street location. John just so happened to be one of the firefighters who responded the night of the water tower fire.

In October of 2008, with labor and enterprise provided by Jack Venning, his wife Agi, and Ray de Zara, the pumphouse was moved into Danbury Railyard, and placed on the foundation of the former sand dryer house (a building in which sand was dried before being used by locomotives for extra traction). Today, visitors tour the pumphouse by embarking on The Railyard Local train ride. Contained inside the small one room building is the pump, motor, relay board, photographs, and a beautifully-curated tool display. 

One section of the original wall remains. Carved on it are random dates, employee names, and the number of gallons of water pumped on that day. Most numbers don’t dip below 20,000 gallons. This building serves as a reminder of Danbury’s rich railroad history, as it provided an essential service to trains that carried commerce in and out of the state, and we are proud to be able to tell that story today.