Whittenton Pond Dam or Whittenton Street Dam was a private earthen

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

across the Mill River in

Taunton, Massachusetts Taunton is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the seat of Bristol County. Taunton is situated on the Taunton River which winds its way through the city on its way to Mount Hope Bay, to the south. At the 2020 cen ...

. Built in 1832, the original dam was a half-mile upstream from downtown Taunton. It was 12 feet high and constructed of

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

. It was built of wood in 1832, and flooded Taunton when it failed in 1968. The dam was purchased during the summer of 2005 by Infinity Holdings, a real-estate development company in the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

area. Historically heavy and protracted rains fell on

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

beginning October 12, 2005. On the morning of Sunday, October 16, officials realized that the dam was in trouble. The dam was determined to be in imminent danger of failure and of flooding Taunton with a 6- foot (1.8 m) wall of water. On Tuesday, 2000 residents of the city were evacuated and twenty-one troops from the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

were stationed in Taunton. School in Taunton was cancelled, and several roads were closed. Several high-volume pumps were employed to divert water around the dam and drain Whittenton Pond before a catastrophic failure could occur. Though the wooden dam held, later inspections uncovered extensive structural damage. (The Commonwealth of Massachusetts had last inspected the dam for safety and structural integrity in 2003.) After Whittenton Pond was drained, the old dam was demolished, and a new compressed earth and rock dam was built in its place. In 2008, the Whittenton Pond Dam was part of a study by the Massachusetts Riverways Program to review the feasibility of dam removals along the Mill River.Massachusetts Riverways Study 2008 Report
/ref> The dam was permanently removed in 2013.

References

{{coord, 41.9243, N, 71.1065, W, scale:5000, display=title Buildings and structures in Taunton, Massachusetts Dams in Massachusetts Dams completed in 1832 History of Bristol County, Massachusetts United States privately owned dams 1832 establishments in Massachusetts 2013 disestablishments in Massachusetts