Saville Dam
| Saville Dam | |
|---|---|
 Barkhamsted Reservoir, Saville Dam | |
  Location of Saville Dam in Connecticut | |
| Location | Barkhamsted, Connecticut |
| Coordinates | 41°54′36″N 72°57′17″W / 41.91000°N 72.95472°WCoordinates: 41°54′36″N 72°57′17″W / 41.91000°N 72.95472°W |
| Opening date | 1948 |
| Operator(s) | Metropolitan District Commission |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | Farmington River (Eastern branch) |
| Height | 135 feet (41 m) |
| Length | 1,950 feet (590 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Barkhamsted Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 36.8 billion US gallons (139,000,000 m3) |
| Catchment area | 53.8 square miles (139 km2) |
| Surface area | 4.2 square miles (11 km2) |
Saville Dam is an earthen embankment dam with masonry work on the eastern branch of the Farmington River in southwestern Barkhamsted, Connecticut. The dam is 135 ft. (41 m) tall and 1,950 ft. (590 m) long and has an uncontrolled spillway on its western portion. It creates the Barkhamsted Reservoir which has a volume of 36.8 billion US gallons (139,000,000 m3) and is the primary water source for Hartford, Connecticut.
In 1927, the Metropolitan District Commission began to purchase land in the present-day footprint of the dam and reservoir. Construction of the dam commenced in 1936 while land to the north was being stripped of lumber and buildings. Although the Saville Dam was completed in 1940 and named in honor of its chief engineer, Caleb Mills Saville, it wasn't until 1948 that the Barkhamsted Reservoir finally filled to capacity. The Farmington River East Branch is impounded for nearly 8 miles (13 km) behind the dam, with the northernmost open waters of Barkhamsted Reservoir terminating in Hartland, Connecticut just south of the Massachusetts border.[1][2]
The reservoir flooded many buildings and farms of Barkhamsted, including the village of Barkhamsted Hollow.[3] The village of Barkhamsted Center, partially flooded, lies just to the west of the reservoir. Its remaining buildings are part of the Barkhamsted Center Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.