BURST PIPE FLOODS HISTORIC WOODCOCK GARRISON HOUSE IN NORTH ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS
January 29, 2015
NORTH
ATTLEBORO - The historic Woodcock Garrison House was dealt a
modern-day calamity earlier this month when a water pipe burst during subzero
weather, sending water gushing throughout.
Walls, ceilings, floors and some of the building's historic
furnishings were soaked after a radiator pipe burst on Jan. 8, when the
temperature bottomed out at minus-1 degree.
The pipes burst after the building's furnace stopped working
either on that brutally cold day or the night before.
Cost of the damage hasn't been assessed yet, but could have been
much worse.
No one from the North Attleboro Historical Society had
planned to visit the building that day, but member Muriel Crockett made an
impromptu stop there at the northerly junction of routes 1 and 1A.
"I had been out to do some errands, and there was
something at the back of my mind that said go to the Garrison House," she
said. "I drove into the parking lot, and it was just scary and
overpowering.
"I saw a 3-foot thick sheet of ice from the top of the
first floor window going right over the bulkhead and into the driveway. I could
also see a tiny bit of water on the inside of the house, too."
The unplanned stop at the house meant Crockett didn't have
her key with her, so she raced home and called other historical society
members, hoping someone could get into the house to see what was happening.
Ron L'Herault, a member of the society's board of trustees,
lives nearby and was able to get to the Garrison House within a couple of
minutes.
"I got out of the car and looked at the house and saw
this one window in the southerly corner was covered in ice, and I could see
water cascading down the window inside," he said. "When we went in,
it was raining in the parlor. Upstairs, in the room above it, water was coming
out of one end of the radiator."
It was a heart-breaking sight in the house named for John
Woodcock, the first settler in what was then known as the "Attleborough
Territory."
According to the town's website, Woodcock's home, built in
1669, was one of several garrison houses built to protect against Indian
attacks.
The house currently on the site is not the original, but an
addition built between 1730 and 1740.
After shutting off water to the house, Crockett and
L'Herault made calls to local plumbers, hoping they could take a look at the
pipes. Bill Schofield agreed to assess and fix the damage.
Meanwhile, L'Herault got a fire going in the fireplace and
began rescuing items from the parlor, removing tea cups filled with water,
sopping wet dolls and a waterlogged chair.
They rolled up the carpet and tried to mop up as much water
as they could.
Schofield recommended getting in touch J. Brian Day, which
provides emergency restoration and cleanup services, to assist with the
cleanup.
L'Herault said both Schofield and J. Brian Day were a huge
help.
No one is sure why the furnace stopped working - the burner
turned back on without a problem and a few parts were later replaced, just in
case they caused the problem.
Two new radiators were installed, along with new shut-off
valves.
"There's nothing obviously wrong with the furnace, so
we're not sure why it died. It was just serviced in August," L'Herault
said.
While the non-profit North Attleboro Historical Society has
insurance on the Garrison House, it covers the building, itself, not the items
inside it.