Pay in installments of $4.45 with
,
and
Shipping Estimate
USA
- USA
- CAN
- USA
- CAN
Ships within 48 hours · Estimated delivery Aug 1 - Aug 6
For Your Every Summer RSVP, with Code: SUMMER15
Description
In the Shadow of the Dam: The Aftermath of the Mill River Flood of 1874Early one May morning in 1874, in the hills above Williamsburg, Massachusetts, a reservoir dam suddenly burst, sending an avalanche of water down a narrow river valley lined with factories and farms. In just thirty minutes, the Mill River flood left 139 people dead and 740 homeless and a nation wondering how this terrible calamity had happened. In this compelling tale of a man made disaster peopled with everyday heroes and arrogant scoundrels,
Early one May morning in 1874, in the hills above Williamsburg, Massachusetts, a reservoir dam suddenly burst, sending an avalanche of water down a narrow river valley lined with factories and farms. In just thirty minutes, the Mill River flood left 139 people dead and 740 homeless -- and a nation wondering how this terrible calamity had happened. In this compelling tale of a man-made disaster peopled with everyday heroes and arrogant scoundrels, Elizabeth Sharpe opens a rare window into industry and village life in nineteenth-century New England, a time when dam failures and other industrial accidents were widespread and laws favored factory owners rather than factory workers. In the Mill Valley, the townsfolk depended upon generally benevolent patriarchs who assured them that the dam was safe, when most people could see that it was not. The story of the Mill River flood is the story of those townsfolk: of George Cheney, the dam keeper whose repeated warnings about leaks in the dam had been ignored by the mill owners; of his wife, Elizabeth, who watched in disbelief as the dam burst open from the bottom; of Isabell Hayden, the mother who saw her young son swept away in the river's torrent; and of Fred Howard, a box maker who spent the days after the flood searching for bodies, burying friends, and waiting to see if the button factory he relied upon for his livelihood would be rebuilt. It is also the story of the well-meaning but overconfident businessmen who built the dam: of Onslow Spelman, the manufacturer who dismissed the dam keeper's flood warning, irrationally insisting that the dam could not break; of Lucius Fenn and Joel Bassett, the engineer and contractor whose roles in the construction of the dam would be questioned during the public inquest into the causes of the flood; of William Skinner, the factory owner who struggled to decide whether or not to rebuild his silk factory in the village that bore his name; and of many others. The flood highlighted class divisions between worker and owner, as well as the disorganized state of professional engineering, then still in its infancy. As the flood exposed the dangers of allowing mill owners -- who were not trained engineers -- to design their own dam, legislation to regulate the building of reservoir dams in Massachusetts was enacted for the first time. Engineers, politicians, and business owners battled over control of the reform measures to prevent similar tragedies, yet saw them continually repeated. In the Shadow of the Dam is the story of an event that reshaped a society. Told through the eyes of villagers like Collins Graves, lauded as a hero for his desperate ride through the valley to warn people of the impending flood, and industrialists like Joel Hayden Jr., entrusted with the responsibility of disaster relief despite his culpability in failing to maintain the leaking dam, In the Shadow of the Dam is a history of our uneasy relationship with industrial progress and a riveting narrative of a tragic disaster in small-town Massachusetts.Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Free Press
Published: 08/10/2007
ISBN: 9781416572640
Pages: 304
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.68d
Shipping Notes
- Free Standard Shipping on $100+ Orders to the USA.
- Except Preorder products are shipped in 48 hours.
- Delivery to the USA:
- Standard Shipping : 3-10 business days
- If time is of the essence, please consider selecting expedited delivery for faster service.
Exchange/Return Notes
- We offer a 30-day return/exchange service after receiving.
- Final sale items are not eligible for returns or exchanges.
- To process your return/exchange, please contact us at [email protected]
- Please click here for more details>>> Return & Exchange Policy
4.8 ★★★★★
Based on 16 reviews
Sort
Product Reviews
★★★★★ 5
Highly recommend
Size: 1 Count (Pack of 1)
Worked great mosquitoes leave me alone
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2026
★★★★★ 4
Worth a try
Size: 1 Count (Pack of 12)
Not perfect protection, but fewer mosquitos in the past two weeks. I use them in my study where I'm most likely to sit still -- one down low on my desk chair (reduces ankle bites), one on a door knob, one on a corner of my desk. I don't wear them often because I find them uncomfortable. Can't report yet how long they last. Odor is not overwhelming or unpleasant.
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2025
★★★★★ 5
Great product
Size: 1 Count (Pack of 12)
We hse these every time we’re in Jamaica. Works even after being in the water
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2026
★★★★★ 3
Ok
Size: 1 Count (Pack of 12)
Not effective in the Caribbean
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Impressive
Size: 1 Count (Pack of 12)
They work great for me
WAS THIS REVIEW HELPFUL?YesReportShare
Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2026