Demolition discovery in Derby

Derby (WTNH) - Demolition leads to an unusual discovery in Derby. News Channel 8 takes you underground to explore some newly uncovered tunnels.

It's like walking back in time, into what was the basement of the first factory built in the city of Derby.

"Well, originally a copper mill was built here. Anson Phelps and Sheldon Smith built it here, and by 1837 we believe that it was in operation," explained David Carver, Derby Historical Society.

And it was powered by water that flowed through an aqueduct. Hardly anybody has seen the tunnel in decades.

"You know, we've had it on these old maps, but very rarely, once in a while do we come across them in such pristine shape," said Mayor Anthony Staffieri (R-Derby).

The old maps show a very different city of Derby - a city built around factories that were powered by water. The water came down from Ansonia, along what now is the Pershing Drive area and down to where Home Depot and the police station sit. And from the aqueduct, water flowed through massive turbines underneath the factory.

"It's called a reaction turbine. It reacts to the flow of the water. Spins the wheel," Carver said.

Those wheels stayed under this building next to Route 34 until the building's roof partially collapsed last month. That's when demolition began, demolition that uncovered the foundation, the machinery, and the aqueduct. But they are uncovered only briefly.

"This is sort of a fleeting glimpse of the past because this is all going to go away pretty much. It's going to have to go be filled in and we won't see it again," Carver said.

The bulldozers are covering it up, both for safety and for progress. The city hopes to build a new downtown development on the land, so it will all be filled in and flattened.

The turbines were spared and now belong to the historical society.